Slovácko Museum
Slovácké muzeum v Uherském Hradiště (Slovácko Museum in Uherské Hradiště)
A description of the Horňácko Region must include details of its physical surroundings. The Horňácko is in the ethnographic region of Slovácko which is located in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic or Jihomoravský kraj. The Jihomoravský kraj is an administrative unit located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia.
The tourist region called South Moravia (Jižní Morava) is a diverse ethnographic area with no specific geopolitical boundaries. It is contained within the Jihomoravský kraj, an administrative division that includes most of the area of South Moravia. One can make reference to the ethnography of Jižní Morava and further subdivide it into smaller regions based on local customs. Even though these divisions are purely artificial, they are definitely "real" to anyone who lives there. A person from one district can clearly differentiate themselves from a person in another district. A comparable division might be the concept of a "neighborhood" except that the ethnicity of a neighborhood gradually changes with time. Perhaps a better comparision would be that of a "tribe". In Jižní Morava, ethnic differentiation would appear to be based more on "tribal" customs which are maintained almost indefinitely.
This region's history can trace its roots to the Great Moravian Empire which was founded in the early ninth century. The territory of Great Moravia included all of present day Western and Central Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and parts of neighboring Poland, Hungary, and Germany. Saints Cyril and Methodius, known for the creation of a Cyrillic alphabet, came to Great Moravia in the early tenth century as missionaries to spread Christianity in the Slavonic language.
Within the political division of the Jihomoravský kraj is an ethnographic division called Slovácko which in English which means Moravian Slovakia. (Etnografický region Slovácko - Moravske Slovácko). Slovácko overlaps four administrative districts called okres: "Hodonínsko", "Břeclavsko ", "Hradištsko" and "Zlínsko". Frequently these names are also referred to as tourist divisions. Within the region Slovácko there are five ethnographic subregions called Dolňácko, Strážnice (Okres Hodonín); Horňácko, Velká nad Veličkou (Okres Hodonín); Moravské Kopanice, Žítková (Okres Uherské Hradiště); Podluží, Tvrdonice (Okres Břeclav); and Ždánsko, Ždánice (Okres Hodonín). Major towns and villages within Slovácko are Břeclav, Bzenec, Hodonin, Kyjov, Strážnice, Velké nad Veličkou, Uherské Brod, Uherské Hradiště and Zlin.
The Museum of Moravian Slovakia is unique and of special interest due to the scope of its research and collection which covers the whole of the Slovácko ("Moravian Slovakia") ethnographic region. It is one of a kind in the preservation of valuable archelogical sites and artifacts of the Great Moravian Empire. The focus of the collection is both on the archeology of Old Moravia as well as its ethnography. A display created by graphic artist, Pravoslav Rada, illustrates the unique variations in the daily lives and also the customs and folk ceremonies of the inhabitants of farming settlements within the Slovácko region.
From the outside, Slovácko appears to ethnically identify itself more closely with Slovakia or at least does not try to differentiate its customs from those of neighboring Slovakia. Indeed a study of Ellis Island manifests of immigrants to the US from this region reveals a high percentage of emigres that refers to themselves as Slovaks.
Slovácko is also located within a geographic region known as the Bílé Karpaty. Terms used to describe the Bílé Karpaty are "diverse" and "unique"; for there is no place in the Czech Republic quite like the Bílé Karpaty. The Bílé Karpaty or the SW-NE oriented White Carpathian mountain range represents the westernmost portion of the Carpathian Mountains. It is a country of rolling hills intersected with stream valleys, and lies between elevations of 175 to 970 m above sea level. It represents an extraordinary area for reason of its vast areas of meadows and old-growth beech forests.
Links to Tourist regions (Turistické oblasti) Hodonínsko, Břeclavsko, Hradištsko and Zlínsko
Description of Slovácko Villages, Towns and Monuments
List of all Slovácko Villages and Towns
The Jihomoravský Region comprises of the following districts: Blansko, Brno-míŽsto, Brno-venkov, Breclav, Hodonín, Vyškov and Znojmo. Location of the region is of geographical interest because it lies on a historical connection between the South and North of Europe bordering on Slovakia and Austria. Various natural conditions in the region affect land utilisation and a particular way of life. There are four places listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites. There are three different types of landscape that characterize the region:
The Lednice - Valtice area ,which was founded by the Liechtenstein Family, is the world s largest man-made landscaped area comprising 200 square km. It is situated in a larger natural system of forests, meadows and water areas. It also includes cathedrals, arbours and the chateaux of Lednice and Valtice. The Valtice chateau is considered one of the most significant pieces of Baroque architecture in the Czech Republic while the Lednice chateau is an excellent example of English Tudor neo-Gothic style and one of the most important buildings of Romantic achitecture in the Republic. The Lednice chateau was originally a Gothic castle which was modified and expanded into a Renaissance chateau. In the 1760s it was again modified into a Baroque structure. The current Tudor Gothic appearance is the outcome of reconstruction between 1846 and 1858.
The highest altitude in the Region is in the Hodonín District at the mountain called Cupec (819 m above sea level). In the Breclav District you can find the municipality of Lanžhot on the territory of which there is the lowest point (150 m) of the Region as for altitude, which is located where the Dyje and the Morava rivers meet. The oldest dam in Moravia (built in 1894 - 1897) is in the Znojmo District in Jevišovice as well as the biggest water mill in Moravia in Slup, which is from the 16th century.
The largest city in Moravia is Brno, which is located at the confluence of Svratka and Svitava rivers. It is an important regional centre situated on the crossroads of motorways to Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Olomouc. It is also the second largest city in the Czech Republic. Near Brno is the famous Slavkov (Austerlitz) Battlefield area which is also known as "battle of three emperors".
The center of restoration efforts in the region is the Technical Museum in Brno
Source: Interpretation kindly provided by Gabriela Novak
The Horňácko is a small region in the southeastern highlands of Moravia directly on the Moravian-Slovak border. The Horňácko includes ten communities: Velká nad Veličkou, Javorník, Kuželov, Hrubá Vrbka, Malá Vrbka, Lipov, Louka, Suchov, Vápenky and Nová Lhota. It is considered a "folk region" in which traditional and very old songs and dances have been preserved for generations. The Horňácko region is truly special when compared to other parts of the Czech Republic. Almost all the local customs and habits seem to have been preserved here forever. It's in these local villages where you can see people wearing typical colourful folk costumes; not only for special occasions, but as their everyday clothes.
One of the oldest musical instruments in the Horňácko is the bagpipe or gajdy or dudy. The historical significance of bagpipes on the European Continent is an interesting topic in and of itself. The bagpipe may have a bellows, which allows the "piper" to sing, or it may just have a "blowpipe". Historically, the piper usually played alone, but sometimes he was accompanied by two violins. From this three-musician arrangement developed different musical groups, where "gajdy" were replaced by other instruments. These kinds of "bagpipe groups" play in Horňácko and, in more recent history, often included a dulcimer.
Typical to Horňácko is a paired dance called "farmers dance" or šedlacka. Aside from this dance and it's local variations there were also "game" dances and all male dances. For more detailed description see Horňácko Folk Festival attracts visitors with wine, women, song Radio Praha 26-07-2001 By Alena Skodova. Also see Lide Slovacka and Petr Pavlinec Horňácká cimbálová muzika Martina Hrbáč
One very importaint features of the Horňácko is it's viticulture. It is in the southernmost region of the Czech Republic in a region that is able to produce abundant crops of grapes for the production of wines.
In the highland village of Kuželov, you can visit a completely equipped wind mill of the old Dutch type from 1842. This mill has become one of the major symbols of the region (vč›trný mlýn)
Next to the mill in Kuželov is the traditional house of the miller. There one can see the type of life of the Highlands residents living in that region of that time period. The festival "Horňácke slavnosti" is held at the mill each June.
Two families immigrated to the United States that also lived in that Miller's House. (House #21). A special page for the NEMECEK and OKENKA families of Kuželov has been added to this web site.
As of May 2006, the competion to display photos of the Horňácko region on commercial web sites appears to be quite intense. Generally, it is never stated whether an image has a copywrite or not. As a precaution of not ever being able to "link" to a specific image, some images are downloaded from sites in the event the site is removed from the Internet.
If there are any images on this page that have copy rights, please contact the web site owner and they will be removed or properly linked to the original web site.
Created on ... April 05, 2005
Revised on ... July 31, 2007