Czech Republic Guide
North Moravia
Opava
Right by the Polish border, OPAVA (Troppau) is one of the oldest towns in the country, an important trading centre on the Amber Road from the Adriatic to the Baltic Sea, but perhaps better known as Troppau, capital of Austrian (and later Czech) Silesia. Badly damaged in the last few weeks of World War II, it nevertheless retains enough grandiose nineteenth-century buildings to give some idea of how it looked in its heyday. Much has been rebuilt since 1945, and while Opava may not merit a detour, it's a good place to break a journey or do a bit of chateau-seeing.
The most spectacular reminder of the town's former days, the huge church of Nanebevzetí Panny Marie, lies in the west of the old town, built in Silesian Gothic style in the late fourteenth century, and sheltering a lovely crown-shaped high altar. East of this giant red-brick church is the town's main square, Horní náměstí, above which rises the tall tower of the old Schmetterhaus, or Hláska, symbol of the town's forgotten prosperity, where foreign merchants were permitted to sell their wares. Opposite this stands another object of civic pride, the neo-Baroque Slezské divadlo. Opava's best-looking street is Masarykova třída, lined with noble Baroque palaces that once belonged to the likes of General Blücher and one of Beethoven's chief patrons, Count Razumovský. The Silesian Diet used to meet in the Jesuit college at the northern end of the street, while the Minorite monastery, further south, was the venue for the 1820 Troppau Conference, when the "Holy Alliance" of Austria, Russia and Prussia met to thrash out a common policy towards the revolutionary stirrings of post-Napoleonic Europe.
Set in the town's pretty semicircle of parks to the east is the grandiose Slezské zemské muzeum (Tues– Sat 9am– noon & 1–4pm, Sun 9am– noon & 2–4pm; 
www.szmo.cz ; 30Kč), built in neo-Renaissance style in 1893. It has been painstakingly restored since the war and houses a large but uninspiring exhibition that manages to avoid all the most controversial aspects of Silesian history. Opava does have one superb piece of twentieth-century architecture, the church of sv Hedvik, about 500m up Krnovská, one block to the south. The western facade is striking, made from big slabs of rusticated stone with concrete infill, plastered with giant Latin lettering and rising vertically in steps to form a strictly geometric tower. Begun in 1933 by local architect Leopold Bauer, it was used as a storehouse by the Nazis and Communists, and was only finished and opened for religious services in 1992.
Opava has two train stations; the main one – and the most central – is Opava východ, at the southeastern corner of the old town. The town suffers from a dearth of accommodation, which makes the regional tourist office (Mon– Fri 8am–6pm, Sat 8–11am; 
553 756 143, www.infocentrum.opava.cz ), on the main square behind the radnice, especially useful. Cosiest of the hotels is the Iberia, just off the main square at Pekařska 11 ( 553 776 700, www.hoteliberia.cz ; Price: 1501-2000Kč), offering smart en suites in a tastefully restored old town house. The ungainly sixty-room Koruna, náměstí Republiky 17 ( 777 747 047, www.hotelkoruna.cz ; Price: 1501-2000Kč), presents an acceptable alternative. As for food, U bílého koníčka, on Dolní náměstí, is a vaulted beer hall, serving mugs of Gambrinus and all the usual Czech dishes, while Stara Tiskarna, facing a stretch of park at Beethovenova 3, offers a tasty repertoire of steaks and a restful outdoor terrace.