A short visit to the important Vysočina town of Velké Meziříčí: 3 km

• The town of Velké Meziříčí sits literally beneath the D1 highway, just inside the historic territory of Moravia in the hilly Vysočina region. It is worth a visit, particularly to see the remarkable chateau complex, with its slightly awkward blend of almost every conceivable architectural style, from Gothic through to Art Nouveau.
• The main town square, which has some interesting Renaissance era buildings, is dominated by the 15th century tower attached to the Church of St Nicholas. The tower (which apparently has the country’s largest illuminated clock) can be climbed in the summer season for a a fine panoramic view.
• The chateau is clearly the town’s main highlight, although the attractive sloping park area behind the chateau is also worth wandering around. The chateau houses the town’s museum (open from May to October). A few of the chateau’s historic rooms can also be visited – especially interesting are those connected with events at the beginning of the 20th century. The chateau’s owner at the time, Count Harrach, was close to the Habsburg heir, Franz Ferdinand and accompanied him to Sarajevo in 1914. Harrach was the owner and driver of car in which Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, triggering the onset of World War I.
• Descendants of Count Harrach still own and actually live in the chateau to this day. They continue the work of renovating the extensive site. The list of previous owners of this prestigious property almost reads like a roll call of the most important Moravian and Bohemia aristocracy over the past 700 years. It includes the lords of Lomince and Kravaře, as well as branches of the Lobkowicz and Liechtenstein families.
• A possible simple route around town is shown in the following map and includes stops at the Harrach microbrewery/restaurant and the excellent small café, Termoska, on the main square. Both are Hejlík recommendations. The 3 km route can be managed with a stroller, but note that the paths in the park can get muddy.

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

• Velké Meziříčí is well connected on regional bus routes, but most visitors will probably be driving fown the D1 and stop for a quick visit. There is extensive paid parking in the main square
• The route around town probably best followed on either the mapy.com phone application or using a paper map, as there are limited trail markers in the center of town
• Once at the chateau, walk through the chateau park and exit on the far side returning back to town on the RED trail