In Třebíč, the Jewish quarter is the part of town that nobody wants to leave. A dense knot of about a hundred and twenty houses, built close together on a slope above the Jihlava river, it survived because the Jewish population had been confined here since the seventeenth century, and because the town's later development took place elsewhere. The streets are narrow and irregular, passing under arches and between buildings of different ages, and the whole quarter has a close, human scale that cannot be built any more. UNESCO listed it in 2003, together with the nearby basilica.
Two synagogues stand in the quarter. The Old Synagogue has painted walls and a carved Torah shrine, and the Rear Synagogue, with a beautiful ceiling of painted plasterwork, is now a place of exhibitions. Above the town, on a hillside, lies the Jewish cemetery, one of the largest in Moravia, with some three thousand tombstones that show the names and symbols of families who lived here for centuries. The Jewish community of Třebíč was destroyed during the Second World War, when almost all its members were deported and murdered, and the memorial in the quarter and the cemetery gives the visit a weight that is hard to forget.
The ride that begins here goes south to the Lednice-Valtice landscape, a vast ornamental park of palaces, follies, lakes and avenues laid out by the Liechtenstein family and also a UNESCO property. Between the two, the road crosses Moravia, with gentle hills, vineyards and villages, and a long tradition of wine. The south Moravian wine region is the most famous in the Czech Republic, with white wines such as Grüner Veltliner and Riesling, and the cellars in the villages serve wine in the evening. Road surfaces are generally good, though country roads can be patchy and cobbled in village centres.
Fuel and food are easy in Třebíč, which has nearly forty thousand people, and in the wine country the pensions and cellars offer simple meals. Take care with alcohol when riding, because the Czech Republic has a zero tolerance rule. Late spring and early autumn are the best times, with warm light and long evenings, and the vintage in September fills the villages with music.