Mendel Walking Tour

Last weekend we did the Gregor Johann Mendel in Brno self-paced walking tour published by the Tourist Information Centre.

The tour is about 7,5 km (4.5 miles) and takes 2,5 to 4 hours depending if you add museum visits or not.  The tour connects sites across the city associated with Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of modern genetics, and his life in Brno.

At Mendlovo náměstí (Mendel Square) is the Augustinian Abbey.  In 1843, he joined the monastery as a novice and lived there for more than 40 years.

The abbey sits between the Mendel Museum and the basilica.

After Mendel completed his theology studies in 1848, he served as a pastor for sick people at St. Anne's Hospital. 

At Šilingrovo náměstí is the Barceló hotel.  A very nice, posh hotel that opened in 2012.  The building used to be called the Municipal Courtyard where Mendel hosted meetings and lectures as vice-chairman of the Natural Science Society.

Mendel regularly contributed to the Moravian Academy of Sciences which was housed in Bishop's Court.

After he was ordained as a priest, Mendel gave his first church service at St. Michael's Church, at Dominikánské náměstí on 15 August 1847.

The New Town Hall was one of the places where Mendel participated in flower exhibitions as part of the Agricultural Society.

Mendel was a chief advisor and judge for horticultural exhibitions of the Agricultural Society.  In the 1860s many of these exhibitions were held in the Reduta Theatre.

Mendel taught physics and natural history for 14 years at the German State High School.

There's a plaque on the building in Czech, English, and German.

He gave many presentations at the German Technical University that was established in 1849.  Today it is part of Masaryk University.

In 1881, Mendel served as director of the Moravian Mortgage Bank which was headquartered at the Moravian Land Assembly.  Today the building is the seat of the Czech Constitutional Court.

Near the Bishop's Court is Mendelianum.  The premises used to be home to the Agricultural Society where Mendel was an active member.  Mendelianum presents modern genetics with other branches of science.

Lužánky Park opened in 1786 and is one of the first public parks in Central Europe.  Mendel participated in gardening exhibitions here.

Mendel is buried in the Augustinian Tomb at the Central Cemetery.  I still haven't made it out to the Central Cemetery but it's still on my list.

While we were at the New Town Hall we say some people who were protesting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Я за Україну. Я за Україною. Слава Україні  Stojím za Ukrajinou!  I stand with Ukraine. 

Mahenův památník

Mahenův památník, (the Mahen Memorial), is a museum-library / cultural centre dedicated to Jiří Mahen.  Jiří Mahen was a well-known novelist, playwright, and journalist.  

Mahen was the first director of the Brno Municipal Library and the Brno's Mahen Theatre is named after him.

The centre is located in the first-Republic villa where he lived from 1935 until he passed away in 1939.

The memorial was established in 1992.  There was a major renovation and it reopened in March 2019.  Officially it is a branch of the Jiří Mahen Library, which is the biggest public library in Moravia and the second largest in Czechland.

On the first floor, (the ground floor), is a public library.  The second floor is a museum with a reconstructed study. 

The attic is used as an exhibition room for lectures and other events. 

Mahen believed that libraries were a cultural hub.  In keeping with this the centre offers lectures, author readings, theatre performances, creative writing workshops and educational programmes for schools and community groups.

I found out that Jiří Mahen was actually born in 1882 as Antonín Vančura.  When he was around 19 years old, he took "Jiří Maheu" as a literary pen name but the there was a printing mistake and he was published as "Jiří Mahen" but he liked the way the misprinted version sounded and he decided to keep it.  It's kind of funny to me that so many things in Brno bear his misprinted pseudonym.  I guess things work out sometimes for the better.

Mendel Museum

On Saturday, we visited the Mendel Museum which is a science and history museum dedicated to Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of modern genetics.  A local Brno boy.

The museum is located in the Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas where Mendel lived and conducted his experiments.  

It opened in 2002 and since 2007 it is a part of Masaryk University.

Since the museum is located in the Abbey, you also get to visit the monastery garden, the abbey's 18th-century Baroque library and the basilica.

Last year, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mendel's birth, the city unveiled Hrachovina (Peas), across from the museum.  The large bronze sculpture celebrates Mendel's genetic experiments.

Salt Mine and Hiking Tour, Romania

On Saturday we took an all-day tour to see some of the sights near Cluj.  It was a full day, with just us, another couple, and our guide Tudor.

We started off at the Turda Salt Mine about 35 km (21 miles) from Cluj.

Table salt was continuously produced here from the Middle Ages until 1932.  It reopened in 1992 as a salt therapy centre.  It was renovated in 2008 and opened for tourists in 2010.

There's an underground layyrinth carved out of salt, numerous chambers with historic mining equipment, and an underground lake to explore.  

Less of a salt mine and more of an underground theme park.  There's a Ferris wheel, miniature golf, table tennis, bowling, and boats to keep people entertained. 

After the salt mine we headed to Cheile Turzii, the Turda Gorge about 30 minutes away.  

The Turda Gorge is a 3 kilometre limestone canyon that's home to 1000 plant and animal species.  There are caves here that were inhabited since Neolithic times.

We spend about two hours doing a 9 kilometre (5.5 mile) hike.  The views were lovely and it felt good to do some hiking.

After our hike we visited a small village called Rimetea which used to be an important mining town. 

Rimetea has been inhabited since Roman times and is now home to about 1000 people.  

Although a Romanian village, the population is about 85% ethnic Hungarian.  In Hungarian, the village is called Torockó.

The former local administrative budding was built in 1889.  In 1952 it became an ethnographical museum.

The Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael was built in 1933.

The interior was absolutely stunning.  Well worth a visit.

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.