Three stone crosses stand opposite Hrotovice Castle at the intersection of Zákostelní and Znojemská streets. The Calvary group was declared a cultural monument in the third quarter of 2020. Together with the Church of St. Lawrence, the castle and Baroque sculptures, these places offer insights into different chapters of history. Museums and the Hrotovicko Nature Trail add further highlights, from mobile phone history to woodland nature and landscape development.

Cultural History and Baroque in Hrotovice

The Church of St. Lawrence was originally Romanesque. It was rebuilt in the Gothic style in the mid-14th century and altered in the Baroque style in the second half of the 17th century. Its architectural history therefore encompasses three named style periods. Several eras also converge at Hrotovice Castle: it stands on medieval foundations and features late Renaissance and Baroque building phases. It has been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1968. The church’s alterations are dated, while the castle’s foundations and the named building phases are the focus.

The Baroque sculptures differ in their materials, dates and depictions. The statue of St. Donatus is made of fine-grained sandstone and was created around 1730 by an unknown artist. The statue of St. Francis of Paola is an anonymous work from the first half of the 18th century. It is part of an ensemble of Baroque sculptures created in Hrotovice under the Lords of Hirzenau of Hagendorf. Both works date from the Baroque period; the date for St. Donatus is more precisely defined.

The statue of St. Florian near Hrotovice offers a different setting and artistic context: the life-size Baroque sculpture, made of shell limestone, stands southeast of the town among mature trees in the middle of fields. Its material and scale clearly distinguish it from the sandstone sculptures described above.

Two Museums, Different Themes

Muzeum Hrotovicka is interactive and educational, and is aimed primarily at families with children. Muzeum mobilních telefonů has a different focus: it displays suitcase-style mobile phones that looked more like landline telephones and weighed up to about five kilograms, as well as their later compact successors. In this way, a museum format explicitly aimed at families and a collection on the development of mobile phones cater to different visitor interests.

The idea for Muzeum mobilních telefonů dates back to 2019, when the idea arose to show a private collection of old mobile phones to the public. The collection illustrates the contrast between heavy, suitcase-style devices and their later compact successors. Those interested in the history of technology will find a concrete subject here: the evolution of mobile phones, from early devices to smaller successors.

Nature and Landscape on the Hrotovicko Nature Trail

The Hrotovicko Nature Trail is five kilometres long and suitable for pedestrians, cyclists, strollers and wheelchair users. Information panels share interesting facts about animals, woody plants and flowering plants in the forest. They also cover the area’s geomorphological development. The trail thus connects topics in animal and plant life with the development of the landscape; nature enthusiasts will find more than just a single glimpse of woodland plants.

The trail’s length and the explicitly named user groups make it easy to consider as a separate option when planning a trip. Its nature and landscape themes differ from the architectural history of the church and castle, as well as from the museums’ content. This gives you a range of themes to choose from in Hrotovice: architecture and the Baroque, mobile phone history or natural history along the trail. Which one suits your trip depends on the topics you would like to explore further.

Discover more destinations: Lesůňky, Přešovice, Horní Heřmanice, Kladeruby Nad Oslavou, Oponešice, Kojetice Na Morave, Třebelovice, Blatnica.

For the overview of the wider region: Okres Třebíč.