Boskovice

Boskovice had a Jewish community from the fifteenth century which by the nineteenth was among the largest in Moravia, occupying its own quarter of about a hundred and thirty houses laid out below the town, and that quarter survives largely intact - streets, houses, the ritual bath, the rabbinate and the synagogue of 1639 with painted Hebrew inscriptions on its walls, restored and open. It is one of the most complete Jewish quarters left in Central Europe, and the cemetery above it holds around two and a half thousand stones from 1622 onward. The town also has a large castle ruin on the hill and, below it, an Empire chateau of 1826 built by the Dietrichstein family with furnished interiors. The Boskovice festival, held each July, uses the Jewish quarter and mixes music, film and discussion of minority history.

What you actually see

• A near-complete Jewish quarter - about 130 houses, the ritual bath and rabbinate.
• A synagogue of 1639 - painted Hebrew inscriptions on the restored walls.
• A cemetery of 2,500 stones - the oldest from 1622, on the slope above.
• A castle ruin and Empire chateau - the two on the hill above the town.

When to go

May to September; the festival in July. A day.

Honest expectations

The synagogue closes on Saturdays and keeps seasonal hours. Many houses in the quarter are private homes. Chateau and castle are separate tickets. Festival week fills the town.

Nearby

The Moravian Karst is south; Blansko is on the way to Brno.