Novy Jicin

Novy Jicin has a square that is arcaded continuously on all four sides, which is rare - most Czech towns have arcades on one or two frontages - and the effect of walking the whole perimeter under cover is the town's first impression. The buildings are Renaissance and baroque over medieval cores, with the Stara posta, the old post house, carrying the most elaborate front. The town's industry was hats: the Huckel works, founded in 1799, grew into one of the largest hat manufacturers in the world, exporting felt and straw hats across Europe and beyond, and hat-making continued here into the twenty-first century. The museum in the Zerotin chateau holds the hat collection - several thousand pieces covering the trade, the machinery and the fashions - which is the largest such collection in the country and the reason the town is worth stopping in.

History

Local legend derives the name from Jitka, the brave daughter of a castle owner, while another theory takes it from a Slavic word for wild boar; the prefix Nový distinguishes it from Starý Jičín. The town was probably founded around 1280 as the economic centre of the Starý Jičín estate and is first mentioned in 1313; it belonged to the Lords of Kravaře and then to the Zierotin family. The Žerotín castle began as part of the town fortifications, built from the 1380s into the early 16th century, and under Bedřich of Zierotin (1533-1541) it was rebuilt as a Renaissance residence. In 1620 Frederick V made Nový Jičín a royal town; it suffered in the Thirty Years' War and in large fires in 1768 and 1773, and in 1790 the Austrian field marshal Loudon had his headquarters here, died the same year and was buried in the parish church. In the 19th century large textile factories were founded and hat-making flourished, so that Nový Jičín is still called the "town of hats"; during industrialisation two town gates and most of the castle's turrets were demolished, leaving two defence towers (Wikipedia, Nový Jičín).

The main sights

• Arcades on all four sides - a continuous covered walk round the square.
• A hat museum - several thousand pieces from the town's own industry.
• The Stara posta - the old post house with the square's best facade.
• A Renaissance chateau - the Zerotin house holding the museum.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Good to know

The museum closes on Mondays and keeps short winter hours. The town is small and half a day covers it. The hat works are no longer visitable.

Nearby

Stramberk and Koprivnice are east; Pribor is north.

Key facts