More than 900 years of history make Olomouc one of the highlights of the Czech Republic. In the heart of the city with its remarkably well-preserved medieval layout visitors will find the second largest protected urban reservation in the country, and the best-preserved historical centre in Moravia with many historically and architecturally important buildings. In 2000 Olomouc became a UNESCO-listed site thanks to the Baroque Trinity Column which at 35m high is one of the tallest in the Czech lands. The column is one of the best monuments to the plague which hit the region and a work of art so characteristic for the Baroque period in central Europe. The most important religious site in Olomouc is the Cathedral of St Wenceslas, rebuilt in 1883—1890 in the neo-Gothic style, and the scene of the murder of the last Přemyslid king, Wenceslas III in 1306. Other important buildings are the Přemyslid Palace, Hradisko, the largest Premonstratensian monastery in Europe, and the fortified Church of St Moritz dating from the 15th century, and housing a famous organ. In addition to buildings for the Jesuits, the Archbishop2s Palace and the Svatý Kopeček pilgrimage site near Olomouc, a unique set of six Baroque fountains and plague columns has also survived.
 

LAFAYETTE

RAMBLING ALONG THE BLUEBERRY FIELDS