The basilica of Saint Procopius in Třebíč looks stern from outside, a long and plain Romanesque and Gothic church with massive walls and a squat tower, and it was built in the early thirteenth century as part of a Benedictine monastery founded in 1101. The monks chose a site by the Jihlava river, in the rolling country of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, and over the centuries the monastery became rich and powerful before being closed in the eighteenth century. The church survives as a rare and fine example of a style that blended the round arches of Romanesque with the pointed arches of Gothic, with a crypt that is older than the rest.
The surprise is inside. The interior is bright, high and balanced, with a long nave and a fine carved portal, and wall paintings that reveal the faith of the age. Across the river, just a few minutes' walk away, lies the Jewish quarter, one of the best preserved in Europe, and together the two sites are listed by UNESCO as an example of Jewish and Christian cultures living side by side. That is not a romantic phrase here. The two communities lived in neighbouring districts, traded together and sometimes quarrelled, but the town's history is one of constant contact.
The area is a quiet one for riders, a region of low hills, mixed woodland, ponds and fields, with good roads that run between villages with a steepled church and a tavern. The Vysočina, as the highland is called, is not dramatic, but it is peaceful and varied, and there is often little traffic. In summer the fields are golden with wheat and bright with poppies, and in autumn the forests turn orange and brown. Winter brings snow and ice, and roads may be treacherous. Watch for farm vehicles and for deer at dusk.
Třebíč is a town of about thirty-nine thousand people and has all the fuel, food and accommodation a rider needs. Czech beer, goulash and dumplings are the standard, and the cafés in the main square are a good place for a break. There is a small nuclear power station at Dukovany, a short distance to the east, visible as a cluster of cooling towers on the horizon, which gives the pleasant landscape an unexpected edge. A weekday visit in May or September avoids the crowds.