Mendel Museum and Abbey

Gregor Johann Mendel entered the Augustinian abbey of St Thomas in Old Brno in 1843, taught in Brno, and between 1856 and 1863 grew and crossed pea plants in the monastery garden - by his own account around twenty-eight thousand of them - counting the offspring generation by generation and finding the ratios that revealed inheritance as discrete units rather than blending. He published in 1866 in the proceedings of the Brno natural science society and it was essentially ignored for thirty-four years until three botanists rediscovered the work in 1900. He became abbot, gave up the experiments and died in 1884 without knowing. The museum in the abbey covers the experiments and their afterlife, with original documents, his equipment and a reconstruction of the greenhouse; part of the garden is planted again. The abbey basilica alongside holds the Black Madonna of Brno.

What you actually see

• The experimental garden - where the pea crosses were grown from 1856.
• Original documents and equipment - the abbey's Mendel material.
• A reconstructed greenhouse - on the site of the one he used.
• The abbey basilica - with the Black Madonna, beside the museum.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a small museum focused on one body of work; the science is explained but assumes some interest. Closed Mondays. The garden is partial - most of the original ground is built over.

Nearby

Spilberk and the Brno old town are a short tram ride north.