*A visit to the Benedictine monastery at Rajhrad and the nearby countryside: 9 km*
- Rajhrad is one of the most famous Benedictine monasteries in the country, founded (according to tradition) in the mid 11th century by the Přemyslid Duke of Bohemia, Bretislav I. It is located 15 km to the south of Brno on a meander of the Svratka river (it is believed to have once been fully circled by water). The site was originally a settlement of the Great Moravian Empire dating from the 9th century and it seems likely there was an earlier monastery on the site.
- Rajhard was reconstructed into its current Baroque form during the 18th century according to a design by the legendary Czech-Italian architect Jan Blažej Santini. The monastery sadly fell into disrepair during the Communist period. In recent years, the monastery has been reoccupied by a small Benedictine community and repairs of this grand monastery continue to this day. The monastery is open for tours year round (except Mondays).
- A excellent one-way walk including Rajhrad can be constructed by using the train line from Brno which runs along the Svratka. One option is to catch the train to Vokovice and walk through Rajhard and catch the train back from Popovice. This is an essentially flat 9 km walk in attractive countryside. There is a super tree alley just to the south of the monastery (map point 2) and a welcoming restaurant with a terrace at the monastery – the Taverna.
Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file
Directions
- Take the train to Vokovice station and then head east along the side road for 600m to join the RED hiking trail
- Turn left onto the RED trail and continue for 4.6 km to reach the monastery
- At the monastery, leave the RED trail, crossing the river on the road bridge and follow the education trail markers (green/white diagonals) for 3.6 km to reach Popovice station
