Where to Stay in Olomouc, Olomoucký kraj

What is Olomouc known for?

Olomouc is known as the sixth-largest city in the Czech Republic and the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region, set astride the Morava on the fertile Haná plain. Its old core is protected. Olomouc holds the second-largest and second-oldest historic preservation zone in the country, gathered around Saint Wenceslas Cathedral and the Church of Saint Maurice.

It was once a capital. As the seat of Moravia until 1641, the city kept a churchly, scholarly weight that still marks its streets.

What are the main landmarks in Olomouc?

Olomouc sets its landmarks across one of the country's oldest preservation zones. Its churches lead the list. Saint Wenceslas Cathedral crowns the old bishop's quarter, while the Church of Saint Maurice and the Church of Saint Michael rise over the squares of the core, and the Red Church stands apart on its own ground.

Museums and monastery follow. The Olomouc Museum of Art and the Archdiocesan Museum hold the city's collections, the Hradisko Monastery sits at the edge of town, and the old Olomouc Castle marks the seat from which the city once governed Moravia.

What is the history of Olomouc?

Olomouc traces its recorded beginnings to 1017, on the Morava at the heart of the Haná plain. It rose to rule a whole land. For centuries the city served as the seat of Moravia, holding that role until 1641, and from Olomouc Castle its bishops and lords governed the surrounding country.

Church and learning grew alongside the power. Saint Wenceslas Cathedral and a ring of monasteries and churches made the town a religious centre, and the collections that fill the Archdiocesan Museum grew out of that long ecclesiastical life. The city kept its old shape even after the capital moved on.

When Moravia's seat passed elsewhere in 1641, Olomouc held onto the streets, squares, and churches of its core, which survive as one of the country's oldest preservation zones. The Haná plain fed it throughout. Ringed by that fertile farmland on the Morava, Olomouc grew as a market and church town, and its history is that of a former Moravian capital that kept its old stone while its power ebbed.

Where is Olomouc?

Olomouc lies astride the Morava on the Haná plain, near the centre of the Olomouc Region in the Czech Republic. Flat, fertile country surrounds it. The city sits on level ground where the river crosses the plain, so the land around it is open farmland rather than hills.

The Morava threads through the town. This position on the river in the middle of the Haná plain is the defining fact of the city's geography in central Moravia.

What is the climate of Olomouc?

Olomouc has a moderate continental climate, set on the low, fertile Haná plain. Summers run warm and settled. The open lowland around the Morava holds warmth well through the season, ripening the farmland of the plain, while winters stay cold but rarely severe on this level ground.

Spring comes early to the fields. This gentle lowland weather suits the farming country of central Moravia.

How do you get to Olomouc?

Olomouc is reached easily by road and rail across the Haná plain in the Czech Republic. The city is a rail junction. Main lines meet at Olomouc, which sits on the routes running east and west through central Moravia, so it is one of the better-connected cities of the interior.

Buses reach the plain around it. From Olomouc the towns of the Olomouc Region and the open Haná country are a short ride out.