Free Walking Tour Mikulov: Château to Holy Hill

Your Mikulov Walking Tour, Stop by Stop from Château to Chapel Hill

1. 1

   Mikulov Château

   

   Mikulov begins on a rock. The château stands on a rocky hill right beside the town centre, the seat that shaped the town known in German as Nikolsburg. Where it stands there was once a Slavic settlement, and from the end of the 13th century a stone castle, which the Lords of Liechtenstein later enlarged.

   The Dietrichstein princes acquired it in the 16th century, and their name follows you all the way along this walk. The look you see today comes from a generous rebuild between 1719 and 1730 by Christian Alexander Oedtl. In 1857 Alexandrine, daughter of the 9th Prince of Dietrichstein, married the cavalry general Count Alexander von Mensdorff-Pouilly, and the estate passed to his family; the line ended with his grandson Alexander Albert, who was expropriated in 1946.

   Two dates stand out. During the war of 1866 the château was the headquarters of the Prussian King Wilhelm I, his chancellor Otto von Bismarck and the Prussian general staff, and on 26 July 1866 the preliminary Peace of Nikolsburg between Prussia and Austria was concluded here. Then, on 22 April 1945, the building burned out in the fighting at the end of the Second World War.

   Today the rooms house a regional museum, with exhibitions on Moravian winemaking, on traces of the Romans and Germanic tribes in Moravia, and on life in the castle under the Dietrichsteins. The large circuit combines the history tour From Gothic to Empire with the Dietrichstein Gallery; there is also a smaller circuit and a seasonal exhibition. If you only go inside one building today and history is your thing, make it this one.

   From the château it is 980 m, about 15 minutes, to Goat Tower, the longest leg until the final climb. On the way you pass Procházka Forest Park.

   Local name

   Zámek Mikulov

   Hours

   May, Jun, Sep: Tue–Sun 09:00–17:00; Jul–Aug: Tue–Sun 09:00–18:00; Apr, Oct, Nov: Fri–Sun 09:00–16:00; Mon closed

   Price

   180 Kč full (Historie: Od gotiky po empír & Galerie Dietrichsteinů), 120 Kč full per smaller circuit / seasonal exhibition; concessions available

   Website

   rmm.cz ↗

   Location

   Mikulov Château on Google Maps ↗

2. 2

   Goat Tower

   

   Goat Tower, Kozí hrádek in Czech and Gaisburg in German, is a late Gothic artillery tower on Goat Hill, 288 m high, just south of Turold hill. It was built in the 15th century as an outpost of the town's defences.

   Look at its shape: a two-storey tower with a pointed prow, a walkway running around it and walls pierced by gun loops. Its purpose was simple and clever. Whoever held this rise could fire down on the town, so Mikulov occupied it first. The tower stopped enemies from using the hill and greatly strengthened the castle, which gained very good defences for its time.

   It has survived in remarkably good shape and is one of the three rocky landmarks of Mikulov's historic core. Work in the early 21st century turned the hilltop into a freely accessible rest area, so you can catch your breath here whatever the tower is doing.

   The tower itself opens only when the flag is flying, so look up as you arrive. Entry is charged, with reduced and family tickets. It is a quick visit and worth it for anyone who likes fortifications.

   The next stop is only 120 m away, about 2 minutes: the Jewish cemetery spreads across the western slope of this same hill.

   Local name

   Kozí hrádek

   Hours

   Open when the flag is flying (Je-li vyvěšena vlajka)

   Price

   30 Kč full, 20 Kč reduced, 80 Kč family, children under 6 and ZTP free

   Location

   Goat Tower on Google Maps ↗

3. 3

   Jewish Cemetery Mikulov

   

   The Jewish Cemetery Mikulov ranks among the most important Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic, named in the same breath as those in Prague's Old Town and in Kolín, and it is one of the oldest in Moravia. It was founded in the middle of the 15th century, around the time the Jewish community here took shape, and has been a protected monument since 3 May 1958. It covers 19,180 square metres in an irregular shape that reflects its long history.

   A massive wall encloses everything, up to eight metres high in places, built from local white limestone mixed with red brick, typical of old Mikulov. The only way in is the barred brick gate on the south side, locked outside opening hours. Behind it stands the ceremonial hall of 1898, a three-part neo-Renaissance building by the Viennese architect Max Fleischer, set on a raised platform. The rise by the entrance holds the children's graves.

   Head for the heart of the cemetery, the Rabbis' Hill or Rabbonimplatz. Here are the oldest gravestones, from the early 17th century, the graves of Moravian land rabbis and local rabbis with their families, and the stones of Mikulov's wealthiest families. Mikulov was once the seat of the Moravian land rabbis, which is why so many of them rest here. The East Path runs along the eastern wall.

   North of the Rabbis' Hill lies the youngest section, and in its western part a common grave of Hungarian Jews. On 15 April 1945 the Nazis murdered 21 Hungarian Jewish prisoners from the local labour camp; in autumn 1945 they were exhumed and buried here. The very last burials were Hanuš Spielmann in 1948 and Emil Stankiewicz in 1949.

   There is an entry fee, with reduced tickets for children, students and seniors, and it is worth it for everyone; give it at least three quarters of an hour. From the gate it is 420 m, about 6 minutes, to the Upper Synagogue, the prayer house of the same community.

   Local name

   Židovský hřbitov

   Hours

   May: Fri–Sun 10:00–16:00; Jun: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00; Jul–Sep: Mon–Sun 10:00–18:00; Oct: Sat–Sun 10:00–16:00

   Price

   40 Kč adults, 25 Kč children, students and seniors

   Website

   zidovskyhrbitovmikulov.cz ↗

   Location

   Jewish Cemetery Mikulov on Google Maps ↗

4. 4

   Upper Synagogue

   

   The Upper Synagogue stands in Husova Street, right at the foot of the château. It is the oldest Jewish house of worship in Mikulov and the only synagogue building left in town, also called the Altschul or the Old, Great or Cathedral Synagogue. A predecessor probably stood here by the mid 15th century; the present building was founded in 1550 in Renaissance style. Notice how it sits at an angle: both buildings were turned to face the points of the compass, as the liturgy required.

   Fire shaped it. After a blaze in 1561 a corner loggia on a single column was added, and in 1688 and 1689 an unusual triangular women's prayer room. A devastating fire in the ghetto in 1719 led to a rebuild lasting until 1723 that gave the hall its Baroque plan, modelled on synagogues in Lviv and Rzeszów: the ceiling rests on four domes carried by a four-column pillar in the middle, with the bimah, the reading platform, under a canopy. The Torah ark of the 1740s is attributed to the sculptor Ignác Lengelacher; after another fire in 1819 the windows were remodelled in Empire style.

   Services ended in 1938, when the Nazis occupied Mikulov and the Jewish community here was destroyed. The building served as a warehouse during and after the war and decayed until a restoration between 1977 and 1989; the Baroque ark and the women's prayer room were not rebuilt. Today the town uses it for cultural events, and it is the last surviving temple of the Polish or Lviv type in the country.

   Go in if you love architecture or want to finish the story you began at the cemetery: the domed hall is the reason to come, and reduced and family tickets are available. From here it is 370 m, about 5 minutes, to the Holy Trinity Column on the historic square.

   Hours

   May, Jun, Sep: Tue–Sun 09:00–12:00, 13:00–17:00; Jul–Aug: Tue–Sun 09:00–12:00, 13:00–18:00; Apr, Oct, Nov: Fri–Sun 09:00–12:00, 13:00–16:00; Mon closed

   Price

   50 Kč full, 25 Kč reduced, 120 Kč family, children under 6 free

   Website

   mikulov.cz ↗

   Location

   Upper Synagogue on Google Maps ↗

5. 5

   Holy Trinity Column

   

   The Holy Trinity Column stands on the historic square, a Baroque plague column in open public space with no ticket, no door and no closing hour. After a run of paid interiors, that simplicity is a welcome change.

   Use the square as your pause. The Dietrichstein Tomb is only 80 m away, about a minute on foot, and after the tomb the route leaves town for the climb to Holy Hill, so whatever break you want today, take it here.

   Local name

   Sloup Nejsvětější Trojice

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Holy Trinity Column on Google Maps ↗

6. 6

   Dietrichstein Tomb

   

   The Dietrichstein Tomb is far more than a crypt. It began as a copy of the Holy House of Loreto, later the Church of St Anne rose over the chapel, and since the late 17th century the Dietrichsteins have been buried beneath it. Look at the stone façade of 1700: Leopold Dietrichstein had the original single-tower front rebuilt to a design by the Viennese architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach in Roman monumental Baroque. The statues of Christ the Saviour between two angels on the attic date from the mid 19th century.

   The story starts with Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein, who founded the nearby Capuchin monastery in 1611. In 1623, with papal permission, work began on a chapel for it. The cardinal brought three wooden Black Madonna statues from Loreto in Italy to Moravia and placed one of them here. His successor Maximilian Dietrichstein built the Church of St Anne above the chapel, completed in 1656, to plans by Giovanni Giacomo Tencalla, the Italian architect of the Liechtenstein castles in Lednice and Valtice; his brother Giovanni Tencalla made the stucco in the former presbytery and the Náchod chapel, which belonged to the Moravian barons of Náchod with their estate near Mikulov.

   Joined at a right angle stands the sacristy of 1652, built for the church and for the Madonna's treasury: her wardrobe and her gold and silver jewels. Opposite, in Vrchlického Street, are three Baroque canons' houses where the clergy who served the church once lived.

   Inside you pass a courtyard to the grave chapel and two aisles lined with the coffins of the family whose name runs through this whole walk. The ticket is worth it if the château made you curious about the Dietrichsteins. Then comes the longest leg: 1360 m, about 26 minutes, climbing out of town to Holy Hill.

   Local name

   Ditrichštejnská hrobka

   Hours

   Jul–Aug: Mon–Sun 10:00–17:00; Jun: Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00; Apr–May: Sat–Sun & holidays 10:00–16:00; Sep–Nov: Sat–Sun & holidays 10:00–16:00; Dec–Mar: closed

   Price

   120 Kč full, 70 Kč reduced, 310 Kč family, children under 6 free

   Website

   mikulov.cz ↗

   Location

   Dietrichstein Tomb on Google Maps ↗

7. 7

   Holy Hill (Svatý kopeček)

   

   Holy Hill (Svatý kopeček) is where the walk ends, 363 m high and one of the Pavlov Hills. Together with its bell tower and the Chapel of St Sebastian, it forms a striking landmark above Mikulov, the one you may have spotted from town all day.

   The hill is a nature reserve, declared in 1946 over 37.2 hectares to protect a ridge of Jurassic limestone above the town. Behind the bell tower and St Sebastian you find two smaller chapels dedicated to St Rosalia and St Barbara.

   If you still have energy, follow the hiking trail into the adjoining woods to the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, easy to recognise by its dome. The hill is free and open at all hours, so there is no rush: take your time up here before heading back into town.

   Hours

   Open 24/7

   Price

   Free

   Location

   Holy Hill (Svatý kopeček) on Google Maps ↗

Shorter Ways Through Mikulov

Not every day has room for all seven places. These three cuts follow the recommended order and keep the walking short.

Château and Jewish Mikulov

Stops: 1, 2, 3, 4

For a morning with the big interiors. 23 minutes of walking; tickets at the château (large or smaller circuit), at Goat Tower if the flag is flying, at the cemetery and at the synagogue.

Jewish heritage only

Stops: 2, 3, 4

For travellers who come for the Jewish story of the town. Only 8 minutes on foot between Goat Tower, the cemetery and the synagogue; all three charge entry.

From the square to Holy Hill

Stops: 5, 6, 7

For an afternoon. 27 minutes of walking, most of it on the final climb; the Dietrichstein Tomb is the only ticket, the column and the hill are free.

How Long Does This Mikulov Tour Take with Château and Synagogue?

The 56 minutes of pure walking are unevenly spread across the 3.3 km. The two long legs sit at the ends: 980 m from the château to Goat Tower and 1360 m from the tomb up to Holy Hill. In between, Goat Tower, the cemetery, the synagogue, the column and the tomb lie within 990 m and 14 minutes on foot.

Give the château an hour, Goat Tower a quarter of an hour, the cemetery three quarters of an hour, the synagogue, the tomb and Holy Hill half an hour each, plus a short pause at the column, and the day comes to about four and a half hours. If you stay outside everywhere, you are done in under two hours.

The morning variant with château and Jewish quarter takes about three hours. The Jewish heritage cut and the afternoon from the square to Holy Hill each fit into roughly an hour and three quarters.

Before You Set Off in Mikulov

• Start and finish: Begin at Mikulov Château, the recommended start, though you can join at any stop. The walk ends on Holy Hill above town, not where you began.
• Best days: The château, the cemetery, the Upper Synagogue and the Dietrichstein Tomb do not all open on the same days, so check them before you pick your date.
• Time of day: Start at the château in the morning. With an hour inside, you reach the cemetery and the Upper Synagogue around midday.
• Costs: The Holy Trinity Column and Holy Hill are free. The château, Goat Tower, the cemetery, the synagogue and the tomb charge entry; reduced and family tickets are available.

Common Questions About Visiting Mikulov