Sights in Brno
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Špilberk Castle
Brno's dramatic hilltop castle is considered the city's most important landmark, and is home to the Brno City Museum. You can also visit the casemates (small rooms within the castle walls) and climb the lookout tower. Buy a combined entry ticket for all sights or purchase separate tickets; see the website for a full menu.
The two most popular exhibitions at the museum are From Castle to Fortress, about the castle's history, and Prison of Nations, on the role Špilberk played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Other exhibitions of the focus on the history, art and architecture of Brno. A combined ticket (adult/child 120/60Kč) gives access to all displays.
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Old Town Hall
Brno's atmospheric Old Town Hall dates from the early 13th century. The tourist office is here, plus oddities including a crocodile hanging from the ceiling (known affectionately as the Brno 'dragon') and a wooden wagon wheel with a unique story. You can also climb the tower. Expected to reopen in 2013 after rennovations in 2012.
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Náměstí Svobody
Masarykova leads to Brno's elegant and spacious main square, Náměstí Svobody, the city's bustling central hub. On the eastern side of the square is the house of the four mamlases (dům U čtyř mamlasů). The façade is supported by a quartet of extremely muscled but clearly moronic 'Atlas' figures, each struggling to hold up the building and their loincloths at the same time.
Created by Germano Wanderley in 1928, the building has provoked a longstanding and robust debate over whether the statues aptly reflect the elegant face of the Moravian capital.
Náměstí Svobody dates from the early 13th century, when it was called Dolní trh (Lower market). Its plague column dates…
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Cabbage Market
Opposite the Capuchin monastery, a lane leads into the sloping square of Cabbage market, the heart of the old town and where live carp were sold from the baroque Parnassus fountain (1695) at Christmas. The fountain is a symbolic cave encrusted with allegorical figures.
Hercules restrains three-headed Cerberus, watchdog of the underworld, and the three female figures represent the ancient empires of Babylon (crown), Persia (cornucopia) and Greece (quiver of arrows). The triumphant woman on top (arrogantly) symbolises Europe. The square has been the best place in town to buy fruit and vegies since the 13th century, and smart shoppers still flock to it. However, the…
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Vila Tugendhat
Brno had a reputation in the 1920s as a centre for modern architecture in the Functionalist and Bauhaus styles. Arguably the finest example is this family villa, designed by modern master Mies van der Rohe in 1930. Entry is by guided tour, booked in advance by phone or over the website.
If you can't book a tour, the front of the house is still worth a look for how sharply it contrasts with many of the other contemporaneous buildings in the neighbourhood. To find the villa, take tram 3, 5 or 11 from Moravské náměstí up Milady Horákové to Černopolní, then walk 300m north.
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Moravian Gallery
This gallery's extensive art holdings are displayed at three different branches: hours and admission prices are uniform for each. Adjoining the Church of St Thomas, the Museum of Art from the Gothic to the 19th Century presents six centuries of European art. The Applied Arts Museum focuses on arts and crafts from the Middle Ages to art nouveau. A third branch, the Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, focuses on Czech modernist and 20th-century art.
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Mendel Museum
Gregor Mendel (1822–84), the Augustinian monk whose studies of peas and bees at Brno's Abbey of St Thomas established modern genetics, is commemorated here. In the garden are the foundations of Mendel's original greenhouse.
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Cathedral of Sts Peter & Paul
This 14th-century cathedral atop Petrov Hill was originally built on the site of a pagan temple to Venus, and has been reconstructed many times since. The highly decorated 11m-high main altar with figures of Sts Peter and Paul was carved by Viennese sculptor Josef Leimer in 1891. You can also climb the tower for dramatic views, or visit the crypts.
The Renaissance Bishop's palace (closed to the public) adjoins the cathedral. To the left is the pleasant Denisovy sady, a verdant park sweeping around Petrov Hill.
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Brno City Museum
Špilberk Castle houses the Brno City Museum, which hosts permanent exhibitions on the history of construction, Brno's monuments and architecture, plus a fine art gallery. Especially interesting are the section on the castle's past as a prison, the exquisite and colourful Brno Law Book, and Bibles made for Arnošt of Pardubic (Arnost of Pardubice), who was appointed the first Archbishop of Prague in 1364.
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Capuchin Monastery
One of the city's leading attractions is this ghoulish cellar crypt that holds the mummified remains of several city noblemen from the 18th century. Apparently the dry, well-ventilated crypt has the natural ability to turn dead bodies into mummies. Up to 150 cadavers were deposited here prior to 1784, the desiccated corpses including monks, abbots and local notables.
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House of the Four Mamlases
Heading north, Masarykova leads to Brno's elegant and spacious main square, náměstí Svobody, the city's bustling central hub. On the eastern side of the square is the House of the Four Mamlases. The façade is supported by a quartet of extremely muscled but clearly moronic 'Atlas' figures, each struggling to hold up the building and their loincloths at the same time.
Created by Germano Wanderley in 1928, the building has provoked a longstanding and robust debate over whether the statues aptly reflect the elegant face of the Moravian capital.
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Technical Museum
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Leoš Janáček Memorial Museum
A short walk from the old town is the small Leoš Janáček Memorial Museum dedicated to the composer. Janáček was born in Hukvaldy (North Moravia) but lived in Brno from childhood until his death in 1928. Janáček is the least known of the 'big three' Czech composers, the others being Smetana and Dvořák. All were exponents of 'musical nationalism', incorporating folk music into their pieces.
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Dominikánské náměstí
From náměstí Svobody, Zámečnická leads west to Dominikánské náměstí, a humble square dominated by the church of St Michael (kostel sv Michala), which has an interesting, ornate main altar (1759) by Josef Winterhalter and a massive pair of cupola-topped towers.
Also facing the square is the 16th-century New town hall (Nová radnice) with its impressive frescoes.
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Meeting House
On the corner of Husova and Komenského náměstí is the Meeting House, one of the best works of 19th-century Danish architect Theofil Hansen and now home to the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra. The name of the building comes from its role as a social rendezvous point for locals, a tradition still being maintained in the 21st century with the assistance of text messaging.
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Exhibition Grounds
The Exhibition Grounds in the suburb of Pisárky (take tram 1 from the train station) were opened in 1928. They are now a year-round trade fair venue. In addition to the palace of Industry (Průmyslový palác) other interesting buildings include the Congress hall (Kongresová hala) and Bauhaus-style New house (Nový dům).
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Church of the Assumption of the Virgin
Over Špilberk hill from the old town, on the corner of Úvoz and Pekařská, is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin, Brno's finest late-Gothic building. Inside is the oldest painting on wood in the Czech Republic, the 13th-century black Madonna (černá Madona).
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Biskupský Yard Museum
The Biskupský Yard Museum houses the largest freshwater aquarium in the country, and has plenty of information on Moravian wildlife, lots of model mushrooms and a sleepy section on the history of money.
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Town Hall Tower
The Town Hall Tower, raised by 5m during repairs in 1905 so as not to disappear among the newly built houses around it, offers magnificent views. For another Kč30 you can also see the Town hall's interior, including the Crystal hall, Fresco hall and Treasury.
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Petrov Hill
From the top of Zelný trh, Petrská climbs Petrov Hill, site of the gargantuan cathedral of SS Peter & Paul (katedrála sv Petra a Pavla).
To the left is the pleasant Denisovy Sady park, which sweeps in a verdant arc around Petrov Hill.
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Moravian Museum
Exhibits here straddle the intellectual gulf between extinct life and the medieval village. In a courtyard to the right of the museum is the Biskupský Yard Museum, with the largest freshwater aquarium in the country and plenty of info on Moravian wildlife.
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Church of the Holy Cross
From the main train station, Masarykova leads to Kapucínské náměstí. At No 5 is the Church of the Holy Cross and the adjoining and gruesomely compelling Capuchin monastery (Kapucínský klášter).
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Minorite Monastery
On Minoritská (off Orlí) is the church of St John (kostel sv Janů) and the Minorite Monastery founded in 1230. (The Minorites are the only order in Moravia still in their original quarters.)
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Museum of Prison Life
Some of Špilberk Castle's casemates (kasematy), the dark corridors beneath the bastions, are now a Museum of Prison Life. The last entry to the museum is 45 minutes before closing time.
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Applied Arts Museum
The second branch of the Moravian gallery, focuses on the evolution of arts and crafts from the Middle Ages to art nouveau.
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