Straznice Open-Air Museum

The Muzeum vesnice jihovychodni Moravy at Straznice covers the building traditions of south-eastern Moravia in several sectors - the Morava floodplain villages, the hill country, the Hornacko region and, distinctively, a whole wine sector with press houses, cellars and planted vineyards worked as they would have been, since viticulture is the defining activity of this corner of the country. There are around sixty buildings, whitewashed and thatched, with painted decoration on the walls in the local manner, furnished by household and date. Straznice itself hosts the International Folklore Festival, run since 1946, the oldest and largest folk festival in the country, held in the chateau park each June with several thousand performers - it is a serious ethnographic event rather than a display, and Slovacko takes its costume, music and dance traditions seriously all year.

What you actually see

• A wine sector - press houses, cellars and worked vineyards in the museum.
• About sixty buildings - whitewashed and thatched, with painted wall decoration.
• Regional sectors - floodplain, hill country and Hornacko traditions separated.
• The June folklore festival - running since 1946, the largest in the country.

When to go

May to September; the festival in late June. A day.

Honest expectations

Open seasonally, closed in winter. Festival week fills the town completely and accommodation is scarce. Labelling is largely Czech. The site involves a good deal of walking.

Nearby

Mikulcice is south-west; the Bile Karpaty rise east.