Moravska Trebova

The chateau at Moravska Trebova holds a piece of architectural history: the portal built in 1492 for Ladislav of Boskovice, an Italian Renaissance gateway with pilasters, medallions and a correctly handled classical vocabulary, which is generally identified as the earliest Renaissance work north of the Alps - earlier than anything in the German lands or in Poland. Ladislav had studied in Italy and brought the idiom back directly. The chateau around it was later remodelled with an arcaded courtyard. The town square is arcaded with a Renaissance town hall and sgraffito facades, and the museum holds an Egyptian collection with a mummy brought back in the nineteenth century. Above the town is a Calvary route to a pilgrimage chapel. The place is off the main routes and receives very few foreign visitors given what the portal is.

What you actually see

• The 1492 portal - identified as the earliest Renaissance work north of the Alps.
• An arcaded chateau courtyard - the later Renaissance remodelling around it.
• A sgraffito town square - arcades and a Renaissance town hall.
• An Egyptian collection - with a mummy, in the town museum.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The chateau opens seasonally with guided routes. The museum closes on Mondays. The town is quiet and services are modest. The portal is a single object - come for the town as a whole.

Nearby

Svitavy is south; Litomysl is west.