One of the many off-the-beaten-path places popularized by Rickie Stevie is the city of Olomouc, an hour's drive east of Hranice. It is a medium-sized city, largely untouched by WWII, and, indeed, despite Rickie Stevie's attentions, not very touristy. It has a beautiful old city, two large old churches, the tallest "plague" monument in the Hapsburg Empire, and what attracted us, its very unusual astronomical clock.
Beautiful old streets |
And buildings |
The St. Wenceslaus Church, foundation going to the 12th century, "updated" to Gothic in the 1880s |
The south (bell) tower is allegedly the Czech Republic's tallest |
More beautiful buildings |
Ditto; except, through some architectual blunder, this one was built on its side |
Interior of the older St. Moritz church |
Its beatiful organ |
And, finally, the plague monument, now known as the Holy Trinity Monument; Empress Maria Therese came to worship at it sopening ceremonies (all the way from Vienna) |