Olomouc

The city of Olomouc is the center of its region and one of the main university towns in the Czech Republic. It is the country’s second largest heritage area and offers many attractive places to visit: monasteries, museums and even its own zoo. The pride of the city is the Baroque column of the Holy Trinity in the Upper Square, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

What to visit:

The Baroque Column of the Holy Trinity: At 35 meters, one of the tallest  memorial columns in the Czech Republic, and a key landmark of the Upper Square.

The Gothic-Renaissance Town Hall with its Astronomical Clock. Close to the column, the gothic town hall dates back to 1378. The astronomical clock has been reconstructed many times, most recently in the realist style of the communist period. We can make sure you are in Olomouc in time to watch the „performance“ of the carillon at noon. From the 76-meter high town hall tower, there is a beautiful view of the surroundings.

You can also visit the 12th century remains of the Romanesque Palace, the Gothic cathedral of St. Wenceslas, the town walls, which have been preserved in fragments, and the baroque pilgrimage church on Svatý Kopeček (Holy Hill)

History connected with Olomouc

Wenceslas III, the last Bohemian king of the Přemyslid dynasty, was apparently a very talented youngster. For all that, however, he was a typical teenager and there are all sorts of stories about his rather wild typically adolescent behavior. At the age of 12 he was crowned King of Hungary. In 1305, his father Wenceslas II died, leaving him a further two kingdoms – those of Bohemia and Poland.

Surrounded by enemies, he decided to give up the Hungarian crown and concentrate on holding on to power in Poland. In the summer of 1306, aged 16, he set out with his army to liquidate the Polish claimant to the throne, Wladyslaw Lokietok.

He reached the town of Olomouc at the beginning of August, where he wanted to make the last stop on home territory. And that sealed his fate. On August 4, 1306, someone managed to enter his bedroom in the palace and kill him while he was resting. Who killed Wenceslas III and why remain two unanswered questions. All we know is that he had so many enemies, he should have been a little more careful! But then you know what teenagers are like…

If you travel from Prague to Olomouc with our professional driver, don’t forget to visit the palace where the Přemyslid kingdom came to its end after ruling the Czech lands for over 450 years.