Moravsky Krumlov

Moravsky Krumlov sits in a loop of the Rokytna with a Renaissance chateau of the 1560s, arcaded round a courtyard, on the edge of the old town. Its national significance is one exhibition. Alfons Mucha finished the Slav Epic - twenty large canvases on Slavic history, several of them over six by eight metres - in 1928 and gave them to Prague, which for decades had nowhere to hang them. From 1963 they were shown in the chateau here, in a town of six thousand people, and stayed until 2012, when Prague reclaimed them; the resulting dispute ran for years and the town campaigned hard. They returned to Moravsky Krumlov in 2021 under a further agreement, and their long-term home remains unsettled. Check where the canvases actually are before travelling for them. The town also has a Loreto chapel and the Rokytna gorge walks nearby.

History

Krumlov is named after the meander of the Rokytná, from the Middle High German Krumme Aue, "crooked meadow", and the word Moravský was added in 1661 to tell it apart from Český Krumlov. The town grew with a stone castle, probably begun on the order of Ottokar II, and is first mentioned in 1289; the Lords of Lipá acquired the estate between 1313 and 1315, an Augustinian monastery was founded in 1354, and in 1358 the town passed to the Lords of Kravaře. The Hussites used it as a base, the Lords of Lipá regained it afterwards, and in the 16th century the old castle became a comfortable Renaissance residence and a centre of cultural and social life. As the Lords of Lipá had been on the losing side of the revolt against the emperor, the estate was confiscated and sold in 1622 to the Liechtensteins; in 1645 the Swedish army looted the town and devastated the castle, and during the Napoleonic Wars Napoleon's troops occupied it twice. Growth returned only after the Brno-Znojmo railway was built in 1871, and in 1908 the Kinsky family inherited the castle. Mucha's Slav Epic went on display in the chateau in 1963, was taken to the Veletržní Palace in Prague from 2012 until the end of 2016, and is now shown here again (Wikipedia, Moravský Krumlov; Wikipedia, The Slav Epic).

What you'll find

• A Renaissance arcaded chateau - built in the 1560s in a loop of the Rokytna.
• The Slav Epic, when it is here - twenty large canvases, several over six by eight metres.
• A long custody dispute - the paintings moved between Prague and here since 1963.
• The Rokytna gorge - walking country in the river loop below the town.

When to go

April to October. A day.

What to expect

Check before you travel: the Slav Epic's location has changed several times and the arrangement is not permanent. Chateau opening is seasonal. The town is small with limited services.

Nearby

Znojmo and Podyji are south-west; Brno is north-east.

Key facts