Czech Republic - Southern Moravia, My Czech Relatives

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Our last stop on our two week long trip was in the Southeastern part of the Czech Republic at my relatives' house. We made one vital stop on our way through the Czech Republic at the Plzensky Prazdroj (Pilsner Urquell) brewery in the town of Plzen. While German and American breweries are often associated with Pilsner styles of beer, it was the Czechs who originally developed it and in my opinion, continue to produce the best (and of course the style of beer is derived from the name of the town). We arrived at the brewery in time for supper and ate a great meal along with the original pilsner beer from the original location (this is the meaning of the word "urquell").
After a marathon day of driving from Rotterdam all the way across Germany and practically all of the Czech Republic, including a late night stop in Prague to find the one compressed natural gas station in the city, we arrived in Moravske Budejovice, which is where my cousin Hana Svobodova and her mother Ludmila live. They are my relation from my maternal grandmother's side and I have visited them on two previous occasions. Hana just recently finished a year of teaching in Chicago on a Fulbright exchange program and arrived home only two days before we got there.
The trip was a good one for me because it was finally my turn to take Sylvia to some of my favorite sites instead of the other way around. I have stayed in this region for several months and visited most of the surrounding cities. Our first day we traveled to the towns of Slavonice, Telc, and Jihlava. Slavonice is near the Austrian border and is famous for its renaissance period muraled houses. On our way to Telc, we stopped at a monastery that was hosting a Catholic youth summer camp. Telc is a famous city and is a UNESCO world heritage site because of its very well preserved renaissance architecture. The entire town square is made up of well preserved renaissance houses, each with a unique facade and paintings. Our final stop was in Jihlava, which is famous for its underground tunnel complex, one of the largest in this region of Europe.
Our second day of traveling was spent in Jaromerice nad Rokynou and Trebic. Jaromerice is home to a very nice castle complex that includes one of the best baroque churches in Europe. The builder of the church even aquired saintly relics from the catacombs in Rome for the church. They were given by Pope Innocent XII. After Jaromerice, we traveled to Trebic. This town is home to two more UNESCO heritage sites. The first is its Jewish ghetto, which is well preserved. Unlike most others which were destroyed during World War II, Trebic's ghetto remains as it was 60 years ago. The old Jewish cemetery in Trebic is included on the UNESCO list. The second heritage site is the town's Basilica. It is several hundred years old and home to several famous works of art.
It was fun to visit my Czech relatives and see many of the people from Budejovice that I have gotten to know over the last six years. This ended our long trip through Western and Central Europe. We got up early the next day to drive the 7 hours back to Roznava.

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Photos

Plzensky Prazdroj
The Pilsner Urquell brewery, home to the very first style of pilsener beer.

Pilsner Brewery
Enjoying a pork steak and a Pilsner at the brewery in the city of Plzen.

Pilsner Brewery
The brewery is basically the size of a small town.

Slavonice
The village of Slavonice, which is very near the Austrian border, is famous for its rennaissance era houses, which many original muraled houses.

Slavonice Tower
The view of the village of Slavonice from the large church tower. The city is only 7km from the Austrian border.

Monastery Church
We stopped at this beautiful monastery church on our way from Slavonice to Telc.

Catholic Church Camp
The monastery was hosting a summer church camp for Catholic youth from the Czech Republic. The leader of the camp told me that there is a very high demand for the camp and the registration usually fills up in a matter of hours.

Telc
The city of Telc is world famous for its Renaissance town square. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of its beautifully maintained renaissance houses and castle complex.

Telc Fountain
The view from the fountain in the middle of the Telc town square.

Telc Houses
These are some of the renaissance houses that made Telc a UNESCO site.

Jihlava Church
Centuries-old painting on the walls of a church in Jihlava.

Chateau in Jaromerice nad Rokytnou
Sylvia in front of some nice flowers in the gardens of the Jaromerice chateau.

Kostel svaté Markéty
The amazing baroque church in Jaromerice. It is one of the most interesting churches I have ever visited. This is my third visit back to the church.

Church Dome
The dome of the church, which is elaborately painted in typical baroque fashion.

Saint Reparata
John Questenberg, who had the church built, gained the relics of two Catholic saints (Reparata and Vincent) from the catacombs in Rome. Pope Innocent XII gave the relics to the church in hopes of providing inspiration to the congregation.

Church Interior
The baroque church of St. Mark.

Cyril and Methodius
This region of the Czech Republic, known as Moravia, is where the brothers Cyril and Methodius first arrived. They are credited with developing the early form of Slavic language and writing which now has developed into all of the Slavic languages including Czech, Russian, and Polish.

Trebic Jewish Cemetary
The Jewish cemetary in the town of Trebic is another UNESCO heritage site. The town still has an intact Jewish ghetto from World War II. It is prized because most others, like the one in Warsaw, were completely destroyed. Trebic's ghetto exists almost exactly as it did during the Holocaust.