Czechia: Brno

Dubbed Prague’s little sister, Brno certainly has the architecture, sights and coffee culture of Czechia’s capital city. But Brno is much smaller and its 90,000 university students (one quarter of the town’s pop’n) give it energy, edginess and a younger demographic on the streets, in cafes and bars. Here’s my Brno pics.

Vegetable Market surrounded by grand buildings and loads of cafes

Narrow winding cobbled streets, arches and churches

Freedom Square, Brno’s largest square is surrounded by Renaissance buildings. It is also where you find the Machine Clock, a phallic looking marble sculpture which spits out marble balls each day at 11am – a significant time.

Under attack by the Swedes in 1645, Brno leaders made a deal to end the siege if the Swedes conquered them by 12 noon. At 11am, the bells rang out loud and clear. The Swedes left and Brno celebrated their one hour deception.

There’s 45 churches in Brno, but the 12th century gothic Cathedral of St Peter and Paul stands out thanks to its position on Petrov Hill. It was the bells tolling from this church that sent the Swedes packing.

Our apartment, housed in this rather grand building had views up to the church.

Spillberk Castle dominates Brno. It was worth the climb for this view.

The castle’s history is savage. Built in the 13th century, it first served as a royal palace, then under the Habsburgs it transformed into an ugly prison and later during Nazi occupation morphed into Gestapo barracks.

Another worthwhile site is 10-Z bunker, a nuclear fallout shelter, supposedly the most highly classified. An air raid shelter during WWII, then a winery, Czech communists confiscated it in 1948 amid Cold War fear. The bunker was modified to include 65 rooms and enough food for 500 elite Czechs for 3 days. It opened to the public in 2016.

The self guided tour is well done with plenty to see and loads of audio. And bonus- we didn’t have to share the bunker with others – which was a good thing given it was a bit squeezy.

Brno, the capital of South Moravia is surrounded by vineyards and wineries. We did our own tour by taking a train from Brno to the village of Popice which took 45 minutes. We walked for about 7 kms on a well defined track to Sonberk, Gotberg and Zidek wineries enjoying vineyard countryside views and wine tasting. The wines are mainly whites.