Czech Republic Guide
North Moravia
Nový Jičín
NOVÝ JIČÍN (Neu-Titschein) is a typical one-square town on the main road from Olomouc to Ostrava. That said, that one square, Masarykovo náměstí, is particularly fine, with wide, whitewashed arcades tunnelling their way under a host of restrained, late-Baroque facades in pastel colours. The radnice is an unusual white, boxy affair rebuilt in the 1930s, its wonderfully jagged gable a reminder of its seventeenth-century origins. However, the one building that stands out (literally) from the rest is the stará pošta, where Tsar Alexander I and General Suvorov have both stayed the night; its pretty two-storey loggia dates from the town's boom time in the sixteenth century when it bought its independence from the Žerotín family.
Nowadays, the town's chief attraction is its Kloboučnické muzeum (Hat Museum; April– Oct Tues– Fri 8am– noon & 1–4pm, Sat & Sun 9am–3pm; Nov– March closed Sat), laid out in the Žerotíns' old chateau, accessed through the covered passageway of Lidická beneath the radnice. Thankfully, the present exploits of the old state hat enterprise, Tonak (based in the town), are only lightly touched on, leaving most of the museum to a wonderful variety of hats produced in Nový Jičín since 1799 by the original firms of Hückel, Peschel and Böhm. The bit that gets the Czechs going is the array of hats worn by famous national personages – a bit esoteric for non-Czechs, though some might be stirred by the sight of Masaryk's topper.
The tourist office (Mon– Fri 8am–5pm, Sat & Sun 9am– noon; 
www.novyjicin.cz ), on Úzká near the chateau, can help find accommodation in the area – although with both Olomouc and Štramberk a quick bus ride away, you're unlikely to need to stay.