Sunday, October 5, 2014

Valtice, Czech Republic

Valtice is small Moravian town near the Austrian border.  It is part of the Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Prior to WWI, Valtice was known as Feldsberg and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Feldsberg was upgraded from village to town around 1383.  After WWI, Feldsberg became Valtice and became part of Czechoslovakia.  Today the town has a population around 3,600 people. 

The 14th century chateau was built as the main residence of the Dukes of Liechtenstein.

Construction on the Parish Church of the Assumption began in 1631.  It took almost 40 years to complete.  In 1992, two new bells were presented by the bishop to celebrate Valtice's 800th anniversary.

Valtice town hall



The earliest record of the Valtice town hall dates back to 1393.






The town's plague column commemorates the victims of the plague which wiped out about a quarter of the population.


We went to Valtice yesterday for the wine fest.  I really wanted my family to see a traditional Czech vinobraní.  I don't know if it was because of the weather or because we were there too early, or if Valtice's wine festival is always small but I was kind of disappointed.

There were only a few people in traditional costumes and there wasn't too much folk music.  The emphasis here really seemed to be just with the food vendors.  This has to have been one of the smallest, low-key festivals that I've been to in the past +5 years.  I think that it was fine for my parents because they had nothing to compare it to but I wish they would have seen something more.

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