Jihlava

Jihlava grew on silver from the 1240s and the wealth shows in the plan: Masarykovo namesti covers about thirty-six thousand square metres, which puts it among the largest medieval squares in Europe, and the town's mining law, the Jihlava code, was copied across Central Europe. Under the centre run about twenty-five kilometres of cellars on three levels, dug for storage and connected over the centuries; a section is open as a guided route, and one passage has a patch of wall that glows faintly in the dark, an effect investigated and never fully explained. Gustav Mahler moved here as an infant in 1860 and grew up in the town; the family house is a museum and a Mahler festival runs each September. Jihlava also hosts the largest documentary film festival in Central and Eastern Europe each autumn.

What you actually see

• A thirty-six-thousand-square-metre square - among the largest medieval squares in Europe.
• Twenty-five kilometres of cellars - three levels beneath the town, part walkable.
• A glowing wall - a passage effect investigated and never explained.
• Mahler's childhood house - a museum, with a September festival.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The catacombs are guided, cool and low. The glowing passage is a curiosity and does not always show. The documentary festival fills the town in late October. Museums close on Mondays.

Nearby

Telc is south-west; Zdarske vrchy are north-east.