Czech Republic Guide
South Moravia
Boskovice
BOSKOVICE, 17km north of Blansko, guards the Svitava valley. On the whole, it's a sleepy little place, with a modest chateau and a ruined hilltop castle, though it does have one of the best-preserved Jewish quarters in Moravia. Jews began to settle in Boskovice from the fifteenth century onwards, and from 1727 they were incarcerated in a ghetto, with five gates, one of which remains to this day. By the mid-nineteenth century, Jews made up a third of the town's population of around six thousand. To find out more about the town's Jewish history, head for the town's seventeenth-century synagogue (April & Oct Sat & Sun 1–5pm; May– Sept Tues– Fri 9am–5pm, Sat & Sun 1–5pm; 30Kč), south of the main square on Antonína Trapla, whose walls and vaults feature beautifully preserved frescoes of flora and fauna. The exhibition inside has photos of the community in its prime and of the transport in March 1942, which sent the town's 458 Jews to Terezín.
Just off the main square on Hradní, a modest town museum hosts changing exhibitions of local interest. Five-minutes' walk further on stands the town's zámek (Tues– Sun: June– Aug 9am–6pm; May & Sept 9am–5pm; 80Kč), a former monastery adapted as an aristocratic home in the 1820s, and currently containing a clutch of well-restored Neoclassical interiors. It was handed back to its former owners, the Mensdorff-Pouillys, in the 1990s, along with the ruined hrad (April & Oct Sat & Sun 10am–4pm; May & Sept Tues– Sun 10am–5pm; June– Aug daily 9am–6pm; 30Kč), which is a five-minute walk further south through the woods.
For something much more mind-blowing, however, you should head out to the Westernové městečko Boskovice (from 10am: May & June Sat & Sun; July & Aug Tues– Sun; 
www.wildwest.cz ), a wild west theme park about 2km northeast of the town along the blue-marked path. Saloons, rodeos and open-air extravaganzas are just some of the attractions, and you can even stay the night on set or in a wagon around a campfire.
Boskovice is a perfectly feasible base for exploring the whole of the Moravský kras, if you have your own transport. To get there by train from Brno or Blansko, you need to change at Skalice nad Svitavou. Best place to stay is the Penzion pod Zámkem, just off the main square at Hradní 4 ( 
516 456 056, www.penzionpodzamkem.cz ; Price: 1001-1500Kč), offering neat en-suite doubles and a handful of triples and quads. If it's full, then the Hotel Slavia by the train station ( 501 454 126, www.bosnet.cz/hotel-slavia ; Price: 1001-1500Kč) is a reasonable alternative. Although the name might suggest a Jewish theme, the barrel-vaulted Makkabirestaurant at Velanova 8 offers straightforward Czech pork-and-potato dishes, plus locally brewed Černa Hora beer. The Literárníčajovňa, just up from the synagogue on U císařské, doles out speciality teas by the potful – you can sit on a normal chair or on a bed strewn with teddy bears – as well as selling books, Hindu effigies, darbuka drums and other essentials. If all the hippy stuff is a bit much, head round the corner to the funky Kafírna Dogvil on Zborovská, which serves up strong doses of coffee.
Spread over a long weekend in mid-July, the Boskovice Festival ( www.unijazz.cz ) is a hip and well-attended cultural event involving jazz gigs, literary readings, art shows and drama. Reserve accommodation well in advance or visit from Brno on the train.