Let’s go together to the places where the Czech fairy tales The Brave Blacksmith and Behind the Threshing Floors were filmed. I like places where history comes to life and brings back memories of childhood. I love my native land, I am a patriot and I think that we have beautiful corners here that are worth visiting. I love my native Moravia and I won’t let it go. I am fascinated by thatched-roof cottages with craft workshops. If you visit the town of Strážnice, which is a popular tourist destination during the traditional International Folklore Festival, don’t forget to visit the local open-air museum – the Village Museum of South-East Moravia. The open-air museum in Strážnice is one of the largest and most beautiful in the Czech Republic. Basically, since I was little, I have always been interested in the way of life and housing of people in the mountainous areas of the Slovácko region and also in the fertile part of Pomoraví. So you can certainly understand that I was in my element here. 🙂
And right here in the Strážnice open-air museum you will find everything at your fingertips. You have the opportunity to get to know how people lived in Moravia in earlier times, with traditional folk crafts, folk customs and traditions. In this open-air museum, the areas of Moravian Kopanice, Luhačovice Zálesí or Horňácko are accessible. The area is quite large.
📍MORAVIAN KOPANICE
This landscape around Starý Hrozenkov was settled by Wallachians in the 17th and 18th centuries. Kopanice is characterized by scattered homesteads surrounded by orchards, small fields, meadows and forests.
WOODEN HOUSES AND HOMESTEADS
Cottage of František Mikulinec from Vyškovec
(Cottage no.92)
This building dates back to 1856. The first thing you’ll probably notice about it is the clay plaster, which is made from local beech and oak wood. The roof is covered with straw thatch. There was no chimney in such a homestead, but they used a smokestack – the so-called sopúch. The smoke from the open fireplace in the room was led to the attic through it, from where it freely penetrated into the surroundings.
Vavřín Hodulík ‘s Cottage no. 58 from Vyškovec
The house was built at the end of the 19th century as a dwelling for a poor family whose members mainly earned their living by hired labor. The house features an entrance hall that served as a stable and a common room called a “jizba“. The building is plastered with clay and is made of local beech and oak wood, with a thatched roof.
Cottage no. 58 from Vyškovec (local part Na Grúni)
The building served as a small farmer’s house. The family had to earn extra money by seasonal labor. In the summer they went to the lowlands to help with the harvest, in the winter they worked in the forest. Originally, the cottage stood on the outskirts of the village of Vyškovec, on the slope of the Grúň hill. The surrounding land was uninhabited and was used as pastures and meadows. The building consists of only two rooms – a living room and a hall, called a pitvor. Tools and food supplies were stored here, but it also served as a barn for livestock.
📍GODDESS NA KOPANICÍCH
Yes, these are the same “Goddesses” that I wrote about in my article In the Footsteps of the Žítková Goddesses. They lived in the White Carpathians region on the Moravian-Slovakian border in the village of Žítková. Tradition has it that they were able to help with various illnesses, heal livestock, mark the location of a lost object, and solve love and marital problems and worries. Their art was passed down from generation to generation from mothers to daughters. In the cottage in the picture, you can find the last goddess, Irma Gabrhelová.
📍LUHAČOVICKÉ ZÁLESÍ
The region around the spa town of Luhačovice and the village of Slavičín, sometimes also referred to as the healing heart of Moravia.
Antonín Mališka’s Farmstead no. 33 from Provodova – GROCERIES
The estate was built at the end of the 18th century. The original owners were quite wealthy. The estate includes a Colonial, which is housed in the original part of the barn. Since shops of this type were common in the village, even though it was not part of this house, it was placed here so that you could imagine what such a shop looked like.
And as you can see in the picture, you can buy Moravian cakes, crackling pancakes or sweets here. And the homemade elderberry lemonade was delicious. We sat outside, but the whole time I was bothered by a hen, waiting for a crumb to fall from my cake. 🙂
Anna Horákova’s Farmestead no. 69 from Doubrav
The owners of the farmstead were engaged in breeding horses, cows, pigs and poultry. The owner’s large family, the exchange workers (mostly parents, sometimes grandparents) and unmarried siblings lived in the house. There were 6 to 8 adults. However, if someone died, another family joined them, who worked for a small salary. On the farm, they usually got a separate room and a piece of field for cabbage and potatoes.
Alois Bětík’s Farmestead no. 12 from Podhradí
The Bětík family estate belonged to large wealthy peasant families since the 18th century. They owned meadows, fields, pastures and forests. They raised several cows, a few oxen, pigs and poultry. What is impossible not to notice about this house are the unplastered exterior walls. The house consists of a living room, a hall with a black kitchen and a barn. The original barn now houses an exhibition dedicated to the history of washing and ironing clothes.
What you may not have known: In the past, laundry was washed using beech wood ash. Later, core soap, a washboard and basins were used for washing. The first mechanical washing machines, so-called rocking machines, appeared in southeastern Moravia only in the 1930s, and hand-operated drum or whirlpool washing machines a little later. Washing machines powered by an electric motor arrived here only after World War II. Cloth or richly decorated festive clothes were not washed at all or only rarely.
The oldest irons were all-metal and heated in a stove. Then hollow irons were made, into which hot charcoal was poured or hot irons were inserted. During the First Republic, so-called American irons heated on a stove began to appear, which were sold in pairs and had a replaceable handle. Electric irons began to be used in the village only after electrification, especially after World War II.
Next to the building is a small garden with a two-story chamber and a beehive. Chambers intended for storing food and simple tools were built near the house so that the stored things would be protected outside the dwelling from a possible fire.
What you may not have known: Apple trees, pear trees and plums were grown in abundance in Moravia. The fruit was dried for the winter. It was often the only way to replace expensive honey and sugar. Special buildings were built for drying – drying rooms (drying rooms). The dried fruit was then used in the kitchen as a filling for cakes or sprinkled on porridge instead of gingerbread. The rings were often stewed in buckwheat or semolina porridge. Sweet sauce was part of the Christmas Eve dinner.
Does this building sound familiar to you? Yes, many fairy tales were filmed in the open-air museum, and this two-story timbered chamber starred in the fairy tale The Brave Blacksmith.
Josef Chmel’s Fruit drying room no. 46 from Velký Ořechov
At first I thought it was a small house for living, but this building was used for drying fruit. Apples, pears and plums were dried here. The drying room is divided in the middle by a wall. In one part there is an oven where the actual drying takes place and then there is a space in front of the oven where the fruit is heated and stored. This method of food preservation was very widespread in the Slovak region. This way the fruit lasted through the entire winter. Sugar was expensive and honey was rare, so housewives stocked up on biscuits and cruciferous vegetables, which they used to sweeten their dishes. The dried fruit was then boiled and made into a sweet sauce called brija. Sometimes the housewives ground it and used it as a filling for cakes. Crushed pears were used as a sprinkle on porridge instead of gingerbread.
📍WATER ENGINEERING STRUCTURES AREA
In this part of the open-air museum you will find technical water structures that you could have encountered in the past in southeastern Moravia. You will find a water sawmill, a miller’s dwelling, etc.
Mill residential building no. 148 from Nová Lhota, local part of Čerešník’s Mills
The owner of this building made his living by farming in the fields, grinding grain and later cutting wood. The building dates back to 1716. The house consists of three rooms – a living room, a hall and a pantry. In addition, a barn is adjacent to the living room, which is entered from the yard.
The small windows have a square shape and arching, characteristic of the Horňácko region.
📍WINE GROWING REGIONS OF SLOVAKIA
The wine-growing buildings in the open-air museum are, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful buildings. You will find various types of presses and cellars from the villages of Veletiny, Vrbice, Prušánky and Blatnice. Grapevines are even grown on the adjacent land, so that visitors have the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of the vineyards and see what the wine cellars look like.
Religion played a big role in South Moravia, but it wasn’t everything. This is evidenced by colorful costumes, holy images on the roads, music, and also South Moravian vineyards.
MY TIP:
HONEY GINGERBREAD DECORATIONS
In one of the buildings you can buy gingerbread cookies and even try decorating them yourself. There are no limits to your imagination.
In the area you will find many presses and cellars from Blatnice. The buildings were intended for processing, maturing and storing wine, as well as storing tools and large presses.
📍SAINT URBAN – PATRON OF WINE
At the moment when the three frozen brothers and Žofia end their reign in the calendars, the patron saint of all winemakers takes over. On May 25, a toast is made to the health of the bearer of the name Urban. Saint Urban is the patron saint of all winemakers, and he also acts as a protector against frost to grant winemakers a bountiful harvest. This custom has been preserved to this day, as documented by many statues of this saint on the roads leading to the vineyards.
Josef Stance’s Press room and cellar no. 270 no. 162 from Prušánky
The building comes from the well-known locality of Nechory, located near the village of Prušánky. Cellars were built here in the first half of the 18th century. Wine was stored and processed here. You will also find a small room called a izébka, which was used for occasional social gatherings with neighbors. What catches your eye at first glance is the light green facade with white trim around the windows and doors. It is also beautiful with a traditional ornament above the entrance and window frames.
📍DO YOU KNOW WHAT PAINTING WAS REALLY LIKE?
Folk buildings were usually painted in color. This work was mainly done by women. The painting itself is quite difficult, it cannot be done all at once. First, a pattern is made, which must be drawn out. The actual painting on the wall is laborious, because it is painted on a white background, which puts a lot of strain on the eyes. The painters often stood on a ladder, of course, it depended on the terrain near the cellar. It is not easy. One cellar took two to three weeks to paint.
MY TIP:
Events are held throughout the year. They present folk crafts, folklore, agriculture and customs at different times of the year. I really enjoy Christmas time.
📍BLATNICKÉ BÚDY (WINE VILLAGE)
Blatnické búdy is still located in its original location, in the area below Stará hora, where it forms a protected zone. The local wine was already famous in the Middle Ages. It is said that it was imported to the imperial courts in Prague and Vienna. And although the tradition of producing the famous Blatnické wine was interrupted several times, either as a result of diseases or for other reasons, in the second half of the 20th century, the original tradition was continued and Blatnice pod Sv. Antonínkem was built into a real Moravian winemaking power. Another interesting fact is that Jan Amos Komenský was also the owner of one of the Blatnické vineyards. The most promoted type of wine is Blatnický Roháč, which won a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1896. These are fine cuvees of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, and Sylvan Green wines.
📍HORŇÁCKO
One of the most distinctive and distinctive Moravian regions is the Horňácko region, a region located on the Moravian-Slovak border, in the foothills of the White Carpathians. It consists of the municipalities of Hrubá and Malá Vrbka, Javorník, Kuželov, Lipov, Louka, Nová Lhota, Vápenky and Suchov. Its natural center is the town of Velká nad Veličkou.
Farmer houses from Hrubé Vrbky
The Horňácko region was characterized by a white or light blue facade with an ultramarine blue underlay. The building materials were mainly unbaked bricks and stone, and the roofs were largely covered with thatch until the end of the 19th century, and later with burnt tiles.
A characteristic element of folk architecture in the Horňácko region are free-standing chambers. To this day, we can still find a large collection of these structures in Hrubá Vrbec. The chambers stood in front of the houses to which they belonged, and could form continuous rows in the village square. The reason for their creation was probably the effort to ensure greater safety of stored objects and food from fire. The chambers were smaller one-story buildings made of stone and unfired bricks, covered with slate or fired tiles.
Homestead no. 95 from Nová Lhota
The family of this house made their living by working in the fields, but also made a living by making rakes, shovels and pitchforks. In the homestead you will find a stove, a brick boiler, a bread oven and a draft tiled stove. The only living room in the house is heated with the exclusion of fire and smoke. The hall and the chamber are lit only by small windows facing the courtyard.
This building featured simple colorful decorations, applied to the fresh paint first with fingers, and later with a potato stamp. Well, it probably wasn’t much fun.
Homestead no. 15 and no. 265 from Nová Lhota
Here you will learn what marriage was like in the Slovak region at that time. By local standards, a 13-year-old girl was almost an adult, as the most desirable brides were around 15. The age of men at marriage was considerably higher, around 29 to 30, which was related to the 8 long years spent in the military.
📍FRONT YARDS
The surroundings of the houses were front gardens – small gardens located in front of the house. Not only ornamental flowers were grown in them, but also medicinal herbs and vegetables. They were enclosed by a wooden or wicker fence, which served as protection from poultry and game. There were usually benches by the fence, a kind of resting place for meeting neighbors. In the spring, yellow primroses, white snowdrops, snowdrops or violets, daisies, multi-colored tulips, table roses, marigolds, strawflowers, colorful dahlias and chrysanthemums grew here. The edges of the gardens were lined with purple lilacs or yellow goldenrods, popularly called “golden rain”. There was also periwinkle, which was used during ceremonial holidays for wreaths and for incense at weddings or to decorate coffins at funerals. Carrots and parsley were often grown in the garden, and beans were grown on the fence. Plants that did not require any care had their place in the corner, most often lovage or horseradish. These found application in the kitchen and in folk medicine.
And who doesn’t know slivovitz? Of course, you’ll find blackthorn trees in the open-air museum area.
The Moravian village also includes domestic animal breeding. In the open-air museum you can see rabbits, geese, ducks, chickens and sheep. You will also find a goat, a cow and a horse, which are used for heavy field work.
📍MEADOW FARMING AREA
In this part of the open-air museum you will find haylofts from the hilly terrain of the Horňácko region. They have a number of common features. They stand alone or in groups in the middle of mountain meadows.
Various events are regularly held in the open-air museum, especially during Easter and Christmas. There are also various theater afternoons, harvest festivals, maypole making, etc. I have been to the open-air museum several times, but I probably like it best in the winter, when the pre-Christmas event Radujme se, veselme se is held. You can meet Santa Claus, devils and angels, the Three Kings, carolers, or Lucy will sprinkle you with flour. In the individual houses, various demonstrations are prepared for children – for example, casting lead, launching boats, baking, plucking feathers, or decorating gingerbread. And if you are lucky and it snows, it is a Christmas atmosphere like no other. My last visit and photo are from the summer, when I visited the area. You can take a tour with a guide or on your own.
MY TIP:
Once you’re in the guardhouse, don’t forget to follow the blueprint trail.
TRANSPORT
BY CAR: There is a parking lot right next to the complex
BY TRAIN: From the train station it is less than 2 km.
BY BUS: From the bus stop it is less than a kilometer
LOCATION ON THE MAP
Strážnice itself is very nice and you will find many beautiful places here.
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