Dům U Tří Knížat

Dům U Tří Knížat, "The House of the Three Princes", is a historic building in Brno's city centre. 

The gothic cellars date back to the 14th century.  The house above was rebuilt and expanded over the yeas with the current building from the 19th century.

There was an older building, U Tří knížat, that was located nearby.  The older building was demolished in 1874 but locals kept using the name and it became associated with the new building.

The building is both a commercial and residential building.  Yesterday we stopped by for a burčák.  

The building is also home to the honorary Polish consulate.

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Cluj-Napoca is located in northwest Romania.  It's about equidistant from Bucharest, Budapest, and Belgrade.  The city is home to about 287.000 people with over 410.000 in the greater metro area.  It's the country's second-largest city and the largest in Transylvania.  

While the city is officially Cluj-Napoca everyone just calls it "Cluj."  The city dates back to 1213, and is located on the site of a pre-Roman settlement named Napoca.  In 1974, the communist government hyphenated the name to emphasise its Roman history.

In 2021, it was named a UNESCO City of Film and joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

St. Michael's Church was completed in 1487 and it is named after the city's patron saint, the Archangel Michael.  It is the second-largest church in Transylvania.

The opera housed was completed in 1906.  Since 1919 the building has been home to both the local Romanian National Theatre and the Romanian Opera.  In 1920, the first two concerts were conducted by the Czech conductor Oskar Nebdal.

The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral is the Orthodox cathedral.  It was was consecrated in 1933.

The State Hungarian Theatre is also home to the Hungarian Opera.  The building was completed in 1910, and renovated in 1961, and is listed as a national historic monument.

The Palace of Justice was completed in 1902.

The Franciscan Church was consecrated in 1290.  It is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles with a Baroque tower.

The Matthias Corvinus House was built in 1443 and it's one of the oldest buildings in the city.  Over the years it has been a jail, a hospital and a museum.  Since 1950, it has been a visual arts institute of the local Art and Design University.

The Transfiguration Cathedral was consecrated in 1803.  It is known as the Minorites' Church and in 1924, the Vatican donated it to the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church.

The Evangelical Church was consecrated in 1829.  It also serves the local German-speaking Lutheran community.

The Cathedral of the Martyrs and Confessors of the 20th Century is still under construction.  Work began in the early 1990s and there is no timeline on when it should be completed by.  It is financed by private donations and is expected to cost over €270M.

The House of the Army is functionalist building that serves as a cultural and social centre for both military personnel and the public.

The Central Park was founded in the 19th century.

The Jewish History Museum opened in 2020.

The Neolog Synagogue was completed in 1887.  It is also known as the Temple of the Deportees because Jews were sent from here to Auschwitz during WWII.

We also took a couple of local day trips to Sibiu, to a salt mine, as well as some hiking at the Turda Gorge.

Gliwice, Poland

Gliwice is located in southern Poland, about 25 km (16 miles) west of Katowice.  The city was founded in 1250 and it's home to just over 180.000 people.  Gliwice is one of the oldest cities in Upper Silesia, is an important industrial centre and a university town.  On Friday evening, we hopped on a train for a weekend away.

Gliwice where is WWII began.  Prior to the war, the city was called Gleiwitz and it was a part of Germany.  On 31 August 1939, German SS officers, wearing Polish military uniforms, commode a false-flag attack on the radio station.  Nazi Germany used this as an excuse to invade Poland the next day which was the start of WWII.

The Gliwice Radio Tower is the world's last wooden radio tower.  It is 118 metres (387 feet) tall and it is part of a local museum and a registered historic monument.

The Market Square dates back to the late 13th century making it one of the oldest medieval squares in Upper Silesia.

In the centre of the square is the neoclassic town hall and a fountain.  Around the square are a number of restaurants and cafes.

Saint Bartholomew's Church dates back to the late 1200s.  It was rebuilt in the 15th century and expanded in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Christ the King Church is a Catholic Church that was consecrated in 1935.

The All Saints Church was built in the late 15th to early 16th century.  The exterior is Gothic and the interior is Baroque.  The tower is about 63 metres (207 feet) tall.

The Church of the Holy Cross is a Baroque era parish church that was built in 1623.  It is part of a monastery complex and is a registered cultural heritage monument.

The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wooden church that was built in 1493.  It was moved to its current location in 1925, near an old German cemetery. 

At Starokozielski Park is the Memorial Sarcophagus of French Soldiers.  It is a war memorial for 71 French soldiers who died while serving in Upper Silesia in 1920-1922 following WWI.

The Jews House of Remembrance is a branch of the Gliwice Museum focused on the history of the Jews in Upper Silesia.  The building was completed in 1903 and located next to an old Jewish cemetery.

There are over 600 tombstones in the cemetery.

Back in 1929 there were approximately 2.200 Jews in Gliwice.  Only 25 survived WWII with all of them being in mixed marriages with gentiles.

The Red Army Cemetery was established in 1951.  

There are about 2500 Soviet soldiers buried here.

The Weichmann Textile House was built in 1922.  It was built as a textile and department store.  In 1988it was designated as a historic monument.

The 19th century Chopin Park is home to the municipal Palm House, one of the country's largest.  

The brick water tower was built in 1918.

Vila Caro was built in 1885 for a local industrialist.  Today it is a museum.

Piast Castle was built in the mid-1300s.  Today it is part of the city museum.

The Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul was completed in 1900.  The church became a cathedral in 1992.

Gliwice has a street art scene and we found an industrial area that was full of various murals.

We enjoyed our little Polish city break weekend.  Well worth the trip.

Hotel Avion Fuchs Exhibit

The  Hotel Avion opened in 1929.  The most striking thing about the 10-storey hotel is that it is only eight metres (26 feet) wide.

The hotel was designed by Bohuslav Fuchs who is considered to be one of the most important Czech architects of the 20th century.  Most of his work is in Brno.

In 2010, the functional building was designated as a Czech Cultural Monument.  Following years of disrepair, the hotel was under renovation from 2016-2022.

Inside of the hotel is a museum exhibit of Fuchs' work in Brno.  Some of it I've seen before, such as the Bohuslav Fuchs House, and some I'll need to go check out.

The exhibit it pretty interesting.  It's free for hotel guests and 99 Kč ($5) for visitors.

Hronsek, Slovakia

Hronsek is a village on the left bank of the Iron River about 10 km (6.5 miles) south of Banská Bystrica.  It is home to about 60 people and dates back to about 1250 when it was called Zyklafalu.  

Over the centuries it's been called Czwiklafalwa, Czwiklina, Galowyczfalwa, Galowycz, Czwyklina, Galfalwa, Garanzegh, Cwklina, Garamsseg, Hronec, Hronsek-Skalka, and Garansek, until 1946 when it became Hronsek.

The village and surrounding area used to be royal property.  Hungarian King Belo IV gifted it in 1250, as a reward for fighting against the Tatars.  Today the village is known for three main sights.

The oldest building in the village is a Gothic-Renaissance mansion.  It was a 14th century moated castle.  

Part of the fortifications were removed in the 1920s and since 2002 the building has been owned by a private company.  Renovations have been underway since 2007.

The Soósovsko-Géczyovský castle is in the centre of the village.  The Baroque castle was built in 1775.

Interior renovations took place in the 19th and 20th centuries.  But looking through a window, it might be time for more renovations.

There's a small park surrounding the castle where there's 250-year old linden tree which has been protected since 1984.  

Nearby is the village's town hall.  

Above the door is a plaque that was unveiled on 1 July 2000 to commemorate the 750th anniversary of the first written mention of the area.

The most well-known sight in Hronsek is the wooden Evangelic church.  The church, made completely from timber, was completed in 1726.  It only took one year to build.

The church is made from solid oak and larch wood, without a single nail.  Everything is connected by carpenter's joints and wooden pins.

The church can seat 1100 people and there's supposed to be a rare baroque organ that dates back to 1764.  

Unfortunately it wasn't possible to go inside while we were there.

In 2008, the church was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.