Opava

Opava was the capital of the Duchy of Troppau and then of Austrian Silesia, the part of Silesia that stayed Habsburg when Prussia took the rest in 1742, and it functioned as the administrative and cultural centre of that remnant, which is why a town of this size has the institutions it does. The Silesian Museum was founded in 1814, which makes it the oldest public museum in the Czech lands and one of the older in Central Europe, and it holds natural history, art and the Silesian regional collections in a monumental building of 1895. The concert hall and theatre date from the same period of confidence. The Gothic church of the Assumption is a large brick building with twin towers, and the Holy Ghost church has a Minorite monastery. Opava was heavily damaged in 1945 and rebuilt, so the historic buildings stand among postwar work.

What you actually see

• The oldest public museum here - the Silesian Museum, founded in 1814.
• An Austrian Silesian capital - the administrative centre of the Habsburg remnant.
• A brick Gothic church - the twin-towered Assumption in the centre.
• A rebuilt town - historic buildings standing among postwar reconstruction.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The centre is largely postwar and the historic fabric is scattered. Museum sections have separate tickets and close on Mondays. It is a working regional town rather than a tourist one.

Nearby

Hradec nad Moravici is south; Ostrava is east.