Stage 18 of the Cyril & Methodius trail: Rousínov to Bučovice – 17 km (extendable)

• The Cyril & Methodius route is a series of interlinked hiking trails connected with the life and mission of the 9th century Byzantine missionaries, Saints Cyril and Methodius. The route was established by the Council of Europe in 2021 and now comprises over 5,000 km of trails, spanning 10 countries. The Saints – who were brothers – are most famous for helping bring Christianity to the Slavic lands. They are most closely associated with the Great Moravian Empire, where Methodius became the first Archbishop.
• The Czech Republic has six different Cyril & Methodius trails, all of which end at the pilgrimage site of Velehrad, in the eastern Moravian Zlín region. Velehrad was (in folk tradition) the seat of Methodius after he became archbishop. It is also the site of Moravia’s first Cistercian monastery. The Bohemian-Moravian trail runs for approximately 420 km between the site of the first Bohemian church, at Levý Hradec and Velehrad.
• Stage 18 of the Bohemia-Moravia trail is a relatively short and simple stage, with few distractions along the way, until the finish point in Bučovice. It is more of a half day walk than a full day, so keen and fit walkers might want to consider combining Stage 17 and 18. Stage 17 is a similarly short stage in easy terrain, with little to detain walkers apart from the starting location – the Baroque gem that is Křtiny.
• The main highlight of stage 18 is the finish in Bučovice, whose chateau is a jewel of the European late Renaissance. Unlike most other Czech Renaissance chateaux, Bučovice is not a conversion of an earlier Gothic castle, but was built from scratch by the wealthy Moravian noble, John Šembera Černohorský at the end of the 16th century. The resulting four-winged chateau has an almost austere external appearance (due its dual fortress/palace function), but the inner courtyard and interior have a typical sumptuous late Renaissance character.
• Another Bučovice highlight is the chateau’s brilliant Renaissance garden, created in the 1570’s with rectangular lines of trimmed boxwood, shaped hornbeams and fruit trees. The garden was reconstructed in the 1960’s and should not be missed.
• The other main sight on the route, Lutršték is another important Marian pilgrimage site, reached after 5 km of walking from Rouínov in the open rolling agricultural landscape of South Moravia. The site became famous in the 19th century for its reportedly miraculous healing properties of the nearby spring. Contributions from the pilgrims funded the construction of the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows (pictured in the header photo).
• As one approaches Bučovice on the C&M trail, there are good views over the town center and chateau complex from the low hills where the original Gothic fortress stood (the ramparts are still visible). The town has developed the forested hills into an interesting park area (a Lesopark) which is traversed on the approach to the town. The popular Black Bakery café (map point 6 – a Hejlík recommendation) is also located on the edge of this park. This is a good spot for some refreshments.
• If travelling from the center of Rousínov to Bučovice train station, the route is a little over 17 km, with around 300m of height to ascend and descend along the way. Most of this stage is on easy meadow footpaths. For refreshments, there are a couple of good pubs in Letonice just after the halfway point, and various options in Bučovice, in addition to the Black Bakery café.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• From the center of Rousínov, join the YELLOW trail head towards Lutršték, which is reached after 5 km
• Continue from there on the GREEN trail which leads directly into Bučovice