St Procopius’ Basilica and Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. St Procopius’ Basilica

   Třebíč sits on the Jihlava river in the Vysočina highlands, and the basilica of St Procopius sits above the water on the eastern bank, so close to the old town that the rider's biggest problem is finding somewhere to leave the bike. The building began as part of a Benedictine monastery founded at the start of the twelfth century. What you see now is a mix of Romanesque strength, with a very old crypt, and Gothic ambition, with a tall, airy nave that people tend to find more elegant than they expected from the heavy west front. The monastery was later turned into a castle and then into other uses, which is partly why so much has survived in odd corners.

   Read the complete St Procopius’ Basilica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   St Procopius’ Basilica is where the day begins. Next is Tugendhat Villa in Brno.

2. 2. Tugendhat Villa in Brno

   When the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed a house for the young couple Grete and Fritz Tugendhat in Brno at the end of the 1920s, he created one of the masterpieces of modern architecture. Completed in 1930, the villa sits on a slope above the city, with a vast open-plan living room enclosed by glass walls that could be lowered into the floor, a wall of onyx, and chrome-plated steel columns. It was inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2001, and it remains one of the most influential houses of the twentieth century.

   Read the complete Tugendhat Villa in Brno write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Tugendhat Villa in Brno comes up about 78 km into the recorded legs. Next is Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape.

3. 3. Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

   The princes of Liechtenstein owned this corner of southern Moravia for centuries, and they treated it as a canvas. Over more than three hundred years they shaped a landscape of about 200 square kilometres between the towns of Lednice and Valtice, with palaces, hunting lodges, ponds, avenues and follies set out as part of a single garden. UNESCO listed it in 1996 as one of the largest artificial landscapes in Europe, and the effect is that you pass from one scene to another as if you were walking through a painting.

   Read the complete Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 138 km into the recorded legs you reach Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape. Next is back through Tugendhat Villa in Brno.

4. 4. back through Tugendhat Villa in Brno

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Tugendhat Villa in Brno write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Tugendhat Villa in Brno, late in the day. Next is St Procopius’ Basilica.

5. 5. St Procopius’ Basilica

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete St Procopius’ Basilica write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at St Procopius’ Basilica. That is the ride.