Znojmo Wine Trail

Points of interest and tourist attractions along the trail

In Znojmo you can visit the historical centre with its fine range of listed buildings. The Gothic Cathedral of Saint Nicholas, Znojmo castle with its permanent exhibition of the South-Moravian Museum, the Romanesque rotunda of Saint Catherine, the watch tower on the town-hall tower and an extensive underground area with a labyrinth featuring several storeys of corridors and cellars that are open to the public. You would certainly not wish to miss out on Louka Monastery, where there is a Museum of Winemaking and Cooperage from the Znojmo area and access to the unique Romanesque-Gothic crypt beneath the monastery church.

In the national park of Podyjí you will step into an unforgettable land covered with oak forests with the meandering deep canyon of the River Dyje. You should most certainly visit Šobes – a vineyard overlooking one of the loops of the river. Here you may taste the wines from this very vineyard slope in the tasting stand provided.

If you are travelling with children, do make a stop in Šatov to the south of Znojmo and visit the Painted Cellar, a labyrinth of corridors deep down in the sandstone. The walls are painted with historical scenes as well as with ficticious personages and made up figures.
Another point of interest on the way is the Dyje millrace dating from the outset of the 14th century and the water-mill in Slup. This is a renaissance building with four functioning water wheels propelled by the millrace. An exhibition of “The Development of Mill Technology” has been installed in the original living quarters. Various tools are exhibited here, among these being the oldest techniques for grain thrashing from various prehistoric cultures. The exhibition reminds us of the invention of the rotating millstone and draws attention to the beginnings of water mills in this country. You can look forward to a walk within the mill’s interior surroundings, where four complete production units are displayed and where the visitor can observe the entire grain-grinding process.

The first written mentions on the village of Olbramovice date from 1063. The renaissance town hall in the centre will captivate the viewer, while in front of the church stands a Late Gothic shrine with wine symbols on the pedestal. Also of interest is the calvary. This is a small hill some seven metres high which, according to the local tale, originated from the earth carried by soldiers in their caps to the grave of their fallen general during the Thirty Years’ War. In 1895 a cross was erected on the crown of the hill to which stone steps now lead.
In Dolní Kounice the ruin of the Gothic monastery of Rosa Coeli will captivate your attention. Among other memorials which can be visited are the renaissance chateau, the orthodox church of Saint Barbara and the baroque pilgrimage chapel of Saint Anthony high above the town. The small Jewish quarter with its cemetery and synagogue, in which there is an exhibition dedicated to the history of the local Jewish community, is well worth a visit too.

Further on, the Znojmo wine trail leads to Moravský Krumlov, where the Slavonic Epic by Alfons Mucha (1860–1939), native of nearby Ivančice, is exhibited in the chateau.
In Horní Dunajovice the trail will take you round the reservoir on the Křepička stream, where it is possible to swim and relax after all those kilometres spent in the bicycle saddle. The leaning tower of the church is a curiosity.
On route to Znojmo, which is already getting close, stop off at Žerotice and look at the ruins of the eponymous fortress.