34 Best Sights in Moravia, Czech Republic

Only in this Cabbage Market could Brno begin to look like a typical Czech town—not just for the many stands from which farmers still sell vegetables but also for the flamboyant Parnassus Fountain that adorns its center. This baroque outburst (inspiring a love-it-or-hate-it reaction) couldn't be more out of place amid the formal elegance of most of the buildings on the square. But when Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach created the fountain in the late 17th century, it was important for a striving town like Brno to display its understanding of the classics and of ancient Greece. Therefore Hercules slays a three-headed dragon, and Amphitrite awaits the arrival of her lover—all incongruously surrounded by farmers hawking turnips and onions. What could be more Czech?

What's left of Mikulov's once-thriving Jewish Quarter can be seen on a stroll down Husova ulice, which was once its center. An information board near the corner with Brněnská ulice explains the significance of the community and what happened to it. The most important building still standing is the 16th-century Altschul. The community once numbered several thousand people, and the town was the seat of the chief rabbi of Moravia from the 17th to the 19th century. Several respected Talmudic scholars, including Rabbis Jehuda Loew and David Oppenheimer, lived and taught here.

A spiraling maze of winding streets, the Jewish Quarter has two synagogues and other buildings formerly used by the town's Jewish community. The Front Synagogue on Tiché náměstí is now used for Protestant services. Several houses in the district are intriguing, including a pink Renaissance house with an overhanging second floor at Pokorný 5. A trail of signs in English points out the remarkable spots. Remember your manners—most houses in this area are not museums, and people actually live in them.

The Jewish Cemetery has 3,000 tombstones dating from the Renaissance up to the 20th century. It's free to enter, but guided tours can be arranged. The cemetery is closed on Saturday, but almost all of it can be seen from the gate and the low wall.