Czech Republic Guide
South Moravia
Slavonice
SLAVONICE (Zlabings), 25km south of Telč and a stone's throw from the Austrian border, is a monument to a prosperity that lasted for just one hundred years, shattered by the Thirty Years' War, which halved the population, then dealt its deathblow in the 1730s when the post road from Prague to Vienna was rerouted via Jihlava. In 1945 the forced removal of the local German-speaking inhabitants emptied Slavonice, and matters deteriorated even further when the Iron Curtain wrapped itself around the village, severing road and rail links with the West.
Even now, the staré město – not much larger than the one at Telč – still has a strange and haunting beauty. The impression is further enhanced by the bizarre biblical and apocalyptic sixteenth-century "strip cartoons" played out on the houses in monochrome sgraffito. The best place to start is at the tourist office (see below), on náměstí Míru, the larger of the town's two squares; note the stunning diamond vaulting in the entrance hall. From here, a steep staircase descends to the thirteenth-century Podzemní chodby (underground tunnels; July & Aug daily 9am– noon & 1–6pm; 50Kč) running under a line of houses and the square itself. Known locally as U itala – the friendly owner is Italian – the former Lutheran prayer room (Protestantská modlitebna; May– Sept daily 10am– noon & 1–5pm) is at no. 517 on Horní náměstí. Here, on the first floor, you can see the exceptional wall paintings of the Apocalypse, which miraculously survived the Counter-Reformation: look, in particular, for the mischievous depiction of the Devil as a crocodile wearing the papal crown, not to mention the horse-riding Whore of Babylon. To round off your trip, climb the Městská věž (May & Sept Sat & Sun 10am– noon & 1–5pm; June– Aug daily 9am– noon & 1–6pm; 20Kč), attached to the town's central church.
Trains from Telč take fifty minutes, from Jihlava an incredible two hours (with a change at Kostelec u Jihlavy); the train station lies five-minutes' walk south of the town centre, and a short walk from the Austrian border (daily 6am–10pm) and town of Fratres. Slavonice is also connected by the occasional bus to Jindřichův Hradec and points west. Most people come to Slavonice on a day-trip, but the tourist office on náměstí Míru (April & Oct Mon– Fri 10am–4pm; May daily 10am– noon & 1–5pm; June– Sept daily 9am– noon & 1–5pm; Nov– March Mon– Fri 10am– noon & 1–4pm; 
www.i.slavonice-mesto.cz ) can help if you wish to stay. Choices on náměstí Míru include the Hotel Alfa ( 
384 493 261, hotelalfa.wbs.cz ; Price: Under Kč1000Kč), which is basically a pub with simple rooms upstairs; the intimate twelve-room U růže ( 384 493 004, www.dumuruze.cz ; Price: 1501-2000Kč), with a small swimming pool and sauna on site; and Hotel Arkáda ( 384 408 408, www.hotelarkada.cz ; Price: 1001-1500Kč), in the arcaded house opposite Alfa, which has pleasant one- to four-bed en-suite rooms. At Appetito, also on the main square, you can eat traditional Czech food in a courtyard out back.