15 facts about Villa Tugendhat
Villa Tugendhat, also known as the Tugendhat House, is one of the most important architectural achievements of modernism in the world. Located in Brno ...
Olomouc, located in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, is a beautiful, though not very popular, city. As the capital of Moravia, it has a rich history, reflected in its Old Town with its beautiful historic townhouses, numerous fountains, City Hall, and the city’s symbol, which is the thirty-five-meter-tall Holy Trinity Column from the 18th century, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
It is the historical capital of Moravia and is the main city of the Hana region (an ethnographic region in central Moravia). The city is located in the Upper Moravian Basin, at the mouth of the Mill Stream and the Bystrica River into Moravia.
It is the capital of the Olomouc Region (an administrative region in the Czech Republic, the equivalent of a Polish province), as well as the archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church (a religious community in the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and the eparchy (the eastern equivalent of the western diocese) of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The city’s area is 103,33 square kilometers, with a population of 99.496.
It has a lowland, mild climate with no major temperature fluctuations. The coldest month is January, with average temperatures ranging from -1 to -4 degrees Celsius. In summer, temperatures reach 25 degrees Celsius, sometimes exceeding 30 degrees Celsius.
The area occupied by the city has the character of a flat plain bounded on the west and east by a strip of uplands. The historic center of the city is located on three hills: St. Wenceslas, St. Michael, and St. Peter. The northern areas of the city border the Litovelské Pomoraví Landscape Park.
It was founded during the Roman Empire as Luliomontium (Mount Julius). While not documented, archaeological excavations near the city have revealed the remains of a Roman military camp from the time of the Marcoman Wars in the late 2nd century.
In the late 7th century, the first Slavic settlement was established there.
The site was an important point at the crossroads of trade routes: the river route, connecting the Oder River with the Danube, and the transcontinental route leading from Prague through the Moravian Gate, Krakow, Přemysl and on to Kyiv. It was the route of the Radanites-merchants, mainly Jewish, who in the early Middle Ages meditated trade between Western Europe and the Near and Far East, and between Christian and pagan countries and the Islamic world.
By 1003 Boleslaw the Brave had incorporated all of Moravia into the Polish state, and it remained in Polish hands until 1031. Under Mieszko II, Moravia passed into Czech rule.
Moravia became part of the Přemyslid state of Bohemia, and Olomouc became a royal city. In 1306, King Wenceslas III, on an expedition to Poland (he was the titular king of Poland), stopped in Olomouc, where he was stabbed to death near the cathedral by a mercenary German soldier. Konrad of Botenštejn. The result of this assassination was the extinction of the Přemyslid dynasty in the male line.
They founded a Jesuit college, which became a university in 1573. Today it is Palacký University, the oldest university in Moravia and the second oldest in all of Bohemia (after Charles University in Prague, which was founded in 1348).
From 1794 to 1797, a prominent Franco-American soldier and politician, the Marquis of Lafayette (who took part in the War of American Independence on the side of the colonists and played an important role in the French Revolution), was interned in Olomouc as a political prisoner of the Danube monarchy after being captured by the anti-French coalition in Flanders in 1792 and then imprisoned by Prussia.
A railroad line from Olomouc to Prague was launched, and in 1899 the first tramway ran in the city.
By the end of the 19th century, Olomouc had six Catholic churches, a Protestant church, a Synagogue, a German and Czech Gymnasium, and a number of other educational institutions. The city is an industrial center, the seat of the regional government, and the district court.
Jews settled there as early as 906. From 1060 they had to live in a separate part of the city and wear a yellow badge in the shape of a circle (this is how Jews were marked in the Middle Ages). In 1454 all Jews were expelled from Olomouc - a law that remained in effect until 1848.
Olomouc’s Old Town is the second largest historic complex in the Czech Republic, after the center of Prague. It is built mainly in Renaissance and Baroque styles. The most prominent monument of the Old Town is the Holy Trinity Column, standing in the Upper Square, which was inscribed under number 859 on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
It was built in the 14th century and expanded in the 15th century. The most valuable interior monuments are the Gothic Council Hall with its beautiful vaulted ceiling and St. Jerome’s Chapel, equipped with seven valuable paintings.
On the 76-meter tower of the City Hall, since the 15th century, there is an astronomical clock (orloj) with moving figures, and stroking chimes. The appearance of the clock has changed many times, its current image was created in 1955, after the reconstruction of the clock, destroyed during World War II, and presents a Socialist Realist style. It features scenes from the life and work of residents of the Hany region.
The clock is another symbol of Olomouc. In front of the clock is a bronze model of the entire Old Town.
It was built in 1107-1131 as a Romanesque basilica, rebuilt in the 14th century in Gothic style, and the 19th century in neo-Gothic style. In the cathedral, King Wenceslas III, who was assassinated in Olomouc in 1306, was buried. In 1326, his remains were moved to the Přemyslid burial site in the royal collegiate hall at Prague’s Zbraslav Castle.
Inside the cathedral there is a tomb and a statue of St. John Sarkander-martyr and saint of the Catholic Church, patron saint of Moravia and Silesia.
At the main altar of the cathedral are its most valuable monuments-four 15th-century statues of the Fathers of the Church, by Mina de Fiesole. It also houses the relics of St. Ursula of Cologne. St. Wenceslas Cathedral has the largest bell in Moravia.
It has only partially survived; the western and southern walls, as well as the eastern wing of the building. The surviving elements of the palace are considered one of the finest works of Romanesque residential architecture.
It was built in the 13th century and has been rebuilt several times since then. It is dominated by unusually asymmetrical towers, which also have different proportions.
The church is home to the largest organ in the Czech Republic. They were built in 1745 by Michael Engler the Younger (the most famous representative of the Breslau family of organ builders) and significantly expanded by the Rieger-Kloss company from 1959 to 1971.
The Olomouc International Organ Festival is held in this church and St. Wenceslas Cathedral.
One of these is the Hauenschild’s Palace, the Renaissance home of a wealthy bourgeois family (it has been protected as a cultural monument since 1958). The palace has hosted notable people throughout history; in 1619 a Turkish envoy stayed there, and after the capture of the city in early 1742 King Frederick II of Prussia temporarily lived there.
During a trip to Moravia, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s family stayed in the house on 26th-28th October 1767. The young Mozart, eleven years old at the time, composed there despite his illness and completed his Symphony No. 6 in F Major. After he fell ill with smallpox, Mozart’s family moved into the chapter house at the invitation of the dean.
It now houses the premises, with a plaque at its entrance stating that Salzburg Kapellmeister Leopold Mozart, his wife, and children lived there, in what was then the "U černého orla" inn.
It combines Viennese and English Art Nouveau architecture, with visible influences from the Prague Baroque surrounding the villa. It was built by Viennese architects for the Primavesi family of Olomouc bankers in 1905-1906. The villa stands within the historic Old Town of Olomouc. The interior consists primarily of a central living room with a wooden staircase and fireplace, a dining room, and adjoining parlors.
Given the family’s wealth and artistic interests, the villa was filled with top-quality works of art. This also applied to the exterior of the property. Elements of the décor were designed by Gustav Klimt and Anton Hanak, among others. Klimt painted several paintings for the owners and also portrayed members of the Primavesi family. Some of Hanak’s works have survived to this day. These include chairs and stained glass windows.
In 2010, the villa gained the status of a national cultural monument.
Olomouc’s fountains are located at various points in the Old Town. Some of them stand out because of their size, artistic value, and importance in the city’s history. Seven of them are Baroque compositions dating back to the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, and their themes are characters from mythology and ancient history.