Czech Republic Guide
South Moravia
Velehrad
The Cistercian monastery at VELEHRAD, just 9km across the fields from Uherské Hradiště, is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Czech Republic. It's an impressive sight, too, with the twin ochre towers of its bazilika (daily 7am–7pm) set against the backdrop of the Chřiby hills, a low beech-covered ridge that separates Brno from the Morava basin. Served by regular buses from Uherské Hradiště, it's an easy half-day trip.
The monastery's importance as an object of pilgrimage derives from the belief (now proved to be false) that it was the seat of St Methodius who arrived in Moravia in 863 to begin the conversion of the central European Slavs to Christianity. The 1100th anniversary of St Methodius's death on July 5, 1985, attracted over 150,000 pilgrims from across Czechoslovakia, the largest single unofficial gathering in the country since the first anniversary of the Soviet invasion in August 1969 (July 5 is now a national holiday). Five years later, Velehrad entertained Pope John Paul II, and half a million people turned up. The church owes its gigantic scale to the foundations of the original Romanesque church on which it's built. This burned down in 1681 after being sacked several times by marauding Protestants, but you can visit its remains in the crypt's lapidárium (July & Aug daily 9am–6pm; June daily 9am– noon & 1–6pm; April, May, Sept & Oct Tues– Sun 9am– noon & 1–5pm; 40Kč). Inside the church itself, the artistry may be lacking in finesse, but the faded glory of the frescoed nave, suffused with a pink-grey light and empty but for the bent old women who come here for their daily prayers, is bewilderingly powerful.
At the edge of the village, en route to Uherské Hradiště, is the Archeoskanzen (May– Sept daily 9am–5pm; Oct– April Tues– Sun 9am–4pm; 
www.archeoskanzen.cz ; 50Kč), a reconstructed Great Moravian settlement. Surrounded by a tall palisade, the skanzen contains various wooden structures, including a sheep run and church.