Mikulov

Mikulov sits where the Palava limestone ridge drops towards the border, and its layout follows the rock: a chateau on the high point, a sloping square of pastel arcaded houses below it, and a second hill opposite carrying a line of white chapels up to a pilgrimage church at the top. Between them lies the former Jewish quarter, once one of the most important in Moravia, of which a synagogue in the Polish style and a large terraced cemetery survive along with a run of low houses on Husova street. The chateau holds a wine museum with an enormous 17th-century barrel in its cellars, and vineyards begin immediately outside the town.

History

The name comes from Mikul, a short form of Mikuláš, and the German name Nikolsburg prevailed in early times; Mikulov has been used since the 19th century. A deed of 1173 naming the town is a 14th-century forgery, and the first trustworthy mention is from 1249, when the Přemyslid margrave Ottokar II granted the castle and the land around it to the Austrian noble Henry I of Liechtenstein; Mikulov received market rights in 1279. The Liechtensteins held it until 1560, in 1572 Emperor Maximilian II granted it to his ambassador at the Spanish court, Adam of Dietrichstein, and from 1575 it stayed with the Dietrichsteins and their Mensdorff-Pouilly successors. A Renaissance rebuilding followed, and under Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein the town became for a time one of the most important in Moravia; he signed the Treaty of Nikolsburg with Gabriel Bethlen at the castle in 1621 and invited the Piarists, who founded a college. After a fire damaged the castle in 1719, the Dietrichsteins rebuilt it to its present appearance, and after the Austro-Prussian War work began here on the peace that led to the Treaty of Prague in 1866. Jewish settlement began in 1421, when Jews expelled from Vienna and Lower Austria settled here under the protection of the Liechtensteins, and in the first half of the 16th century Mikulov became the seat of the regional rabbi of Moravia; from the 16th to the 19th century it was the cultural centre of Moravian Jewry (Wikipedia, Mikulov).

The main sights

• The chateau rock - the white chateau standing on its limestone outcrop above the square.
• The Holy Hill chapel walk - stations climbing the bare limestone hill to the pilgrimage church.
• The synagogue and cemetery - the restored synagogue and the terraced burial ground on the slope.
• The giant wine barrel - the 17th-century cask kept in the chateau cellars.

When to go

May to October, with September and early October best if you want the vineyards working and the cellars open. Summer weekends fill the square and the chateau tours. The Holy Hill walk crosses exposed limestone with no shade, so early morning or evening is far more comfortable in July and August.

Things to know

The town is small and can be walked in two hours, so the reason to stay is the wine and the hills rather than the sights. Chateau interiors are guided and mostly in Czech. The Holy Hill path is steep, loose underfoot and hot. Accommodation prices rise sharply during the September harvest festivals.

Nearby

The Palava ridge and its reservoir are on the doorstep, and Lednice is half an hour east.

Key facts