The Nová Cerekev Synagogue is considered the only surviving synagogue of its kind in Central Europe. Jewish and church heritage, railway and pumping technology, and protected habitats also offer different ways to explore the community. For your trip planning, this means you can focus on architecture, technology or the landscape.

Railway and Technology History

Nová Cerekev railway station is on railway line 224 between Tábor and Horní Cerekev, which continues to Jihlava. If you plan to travel by train, check the timetable for your travel date; timetables and services may change. The railway and pumping station complex is a chapter of local history in its own right. It was built in the 1880s to a design by architect Friedrich Setz. It includes a water tower and a separate pumping station. Both supplied water to steam locomotives. This brings together a route detail relevant to your journey and a historical technical purpose: one helps with planning, while the other explains the railway infrastructure of the past.

Jewish Heritage and Church Architecture

The synagogue was built in 1855 in the Neo-Romanesque style with Oriental elements. The permanent exhibition “Architektura synagog v českých zemích” can be visited there. The exhibition title refers to synagogue architecture in the Czech lands; the building itself combines Neo-Romanesque forms with Oriental elements.

The old cemetery in Nová Cerekev is also part of the town’s Jewish heritage. It was established before 1690; the oldest gravestone dates from 1692. These dates refer to different things—the establishment of the cemetery and the oldest dated gravestone—and together provide a more precise timeframe than a single year.

The Church of St Thomas Becket of Canterbury represents a different period. It was built between 1750 and 1760 in the Baroque style, on the site of an earlier Gothic church building; only the tower of this predecessor survives. If you are comparing architectural styles, you will find a Baroque church alongside the Neo-Romanesque synagogue, with a surviving trace of its Gothic predecessor.

Protected Nature and a Cycling Route

The Rašelinná louka u Proseče-Obořiště natural monument is in the Vysočina Region, in the Pelhřimov District, within the municipality of Nová Cerekev and the cadastral areas of Částkovice and Myslov. It protects spring fens, spring areas, wet meadows and marshy meadows with specially protected and characteristic species. The focus is therefore on several types of wetland habitat, not just a single viewpoint.

The Havlíčkův dub offers a different nature experience. The oak grows in the protected park of Proseč-Obořiště Chateau, a locality within the municipality of Nová Cerekev. It is at least 300 years old and has a trunk circumference of 650 centimetres. While the natural monument focuses on various wetland habitats, here the focus is on a single, very old tree.

For outdoor activity, the “Okolo mlýna k synagoze” route passes through nature and small villages on its way to the synagogue in Nová Cerekev. The route is suitable for mountain bikes on the terrain; conditions may vary seasonally. Check the conditions before setting out if you plan to cycle the route.

Stanovice: Village Square and Museum of Agriculture

In Stanovice, a locality within the municipality of Nová Cerekev, original farmsteads have been preserved around a circular village square. This offers a different perspective on the local layout from the individual synagogue and church buildings: here, the arrangement of several farmsteads around the village square shapes the scene. Pachtův špejchar is listed as a cultural monument and currently houses a museum of agriculture. If you plan a visit to the museum, check in advance when it is open to visitors.

Discover more destinations: Staré Bříště, Stojčín, Nový Rychnov, Zlátenka, Zajíčkov, Starý Smrdov, Leškovice, Rodinov

For the broader travel overview: Pelhřimov District.