Kourim Open-Air Museum

The Kourim skansen was founded in 1972 with a particular purpose: to rescue timber buildings from regions where they were about to be destroyed, chiefly the valleys flooded for reservoirs and the areas cleared for open-cast coal in north-west Bohemia. That gives the collection its character - the buildings come from across Bohemia rather than from one region, and several represent types that no longer survive anywhere in situ. There are about thirty structures, including a fourteenth-century bell tower from Nemcice, one of the oldest wooden buildings in the country, a mill, a smithy, granaries and farmsteads furnished by period. The town of Kourim itself has a very large Gothic church of St Stephen with a separate bell tower and a crypt, and an early Slavic hillfort site nearby. Demonstrations and craft events run through the season.

What to look for

• Buildings rescued from destruction - moved from flooded valleys and mining areas.
• A bell tower of the 1300s - among the oldest wooden buildings in the country.
• Types that survive nowhere else - forms lost in their original regions.
• Furnished farmsteads - arranged by period across about thirty structures.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Practical notes

Seasonal opening, closed in winter. Some interiors need a guide. Labelling is largely Czech. The site is smaller than the Moravian skansens and the walking is easy.

Nearby

Kolin is north-east; Kutna Hora is east.

Key facts