Vítonice can be explored through several specific local features: chapels stand in the village square, in the centre by a footbridge over a stream, on a hill and outside the village. The Křepický potok stream flows through Vítonice; there is also the Akáty municipal copse and a local connection to wine. This combination of religious buildings, landscape and history offers several clearly distinct themes for a trip.

Chapels and Local History

On the hill above Vítonice, beside the road to Hostěradice, stands a wayside niche chapel listed as a cultural monument under number 48937/7-8337. In the village square is a chapel built in 1937 and dedicated to the Holy Cross. In the centre of the village, the niche chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk was built in 1830 at the bridge over the Křepička stream, near the road from Znojmo to Moravský Krumlov. In 2013, it was rebuilt at its original location and consecrated again. Outside Vítonice, in the direction of Želetice, stands the niche chapel of the Holy Trinity. It was built around 1831 and extensively restored in 2007–2008.

The two niche chapels are easy to compare by age: one dates from 1830, the other from around 1831; the village-square chapel, dated 1937, is considerably later. Their locations also set them apart: from the village square and the centre by the bridge over the stream to the hill and the area outside the village.

Vítonice was first mentioned in writing in 1341. An account from 1894 reports that a procession of devout residents of Vítonice made its way every year on the feast day to the church in Prosiměřice. It commemorated the flood of 5 August 1845, when several houses collapsed. The pilgrimage in Vítonice takes place on the first Sunday in August. The historical account and this annual date offer different points of connection with the village’s history.

Stream, Lowland and Akáty

The Křepický potok stream flows through Vítonice. The Akáty municipal copse covers 12 hectares and consists predominantly of acacia trees. Black elder, conifers, fruit trees, willows and poplars, among other species, also grow along the stream. Vítonice lies in the Dyjskosvratecký úval lowland; the area is predominantly flat, particularly around Jevišovka.

Akáty and the Křepický potok represent different scales: the municipal copse, whose area is specified, on the one hand, and the stream running through the village on the other. The lowland and the predominantly flat surroundings around Jevišovka add the wider landscape to these local features.

Connection to Wine and When to Visit

The wine-cellar area is about one kilometre outside Vítonice, in the direction of Hostěradice. Rulandské bílé (Pinot blanc), a grape variety historically grown in the region, was selected for a vineyard in Vítonice. In 2021, the Vítonice winegrowers decided to restore the historic Nad sklepy vineyard. Vítonice’s connection to wine therefore encompasses both the location of the wine cellars and the history of a restoration project.

For trip planning, these different interests can be considered separately: the chapels and their architectural history are a cultural focus, while the stream, copse and lowland describe the landscape. The first Sunday in August is the annual pilgrimage date; the account of the procession to the church in Prosiměřice, by contrast, belongs to the historical tradition surrounding the 1845 flood.

Discover more destinations: Horní Kounice, Dobšice U Znojma, Blanné, Medlice, Vratěnín, Horní Břečkov, Žerůtky, Prokopov

For the full travel overview: Znojmo District.