Dolní Věstonice () is a municipality and village in

Břeclav District Břeclav District () is a district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Břeclav. Administrative division Břeclav District is divided into three administrative districts of municipalities with extended c ...

in the

South Moravian Region The South Moravian Region (; , ; ), or just South Moravia, is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the south-western part of its historical region of Moravia. The region's capital is Brno, th ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. It has about 300 inhabitants. It is known for the eponymous archaeological site and it gave the name to one of the oldest known works of art in the world,

Venus of Dolní Věstonice The Venus of Dolní Věstonice () is a Venus figurine, a ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to 31,000–27,000 years ago (Gravettian industry). It was found at the Paleolithic site Dolní Věstonice in the Moravian basin south of ...

Geography

Dolní Věstonice is located about northwest of

Břeclav Břeclav (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 25,000 inhabitants. Located at the Czech-Austrian state border and near the Czech–Slovak state border, it is an important railway hub. Administrative divis ...

and south of

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. It lies on the border between the

Mikulov Highlands The Mikulov Highlands () is a mountain range in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. The Highlands, together with the Waschberg Zone and Lower Austria Inselberg threshold, form the South-Moravian Carpathians. Geography The Mikulo ...

and

Dyje–Svratka Valley The Dyje–Svratka Valley () is a valley and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the South Moravian Region. Its name is derived from the rivers Thaya (Dyje) and Svratka. Geomorphology The Dyje–Svratka Valley ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The village is situated on the shore of the Nové Mlýny reservoirs. The municipality is partly located in the

Pálava Protected Landscape Area The Pálava Protected Landscape Area (abbreviated Pálava PLA; , abbreviated ''CHKO Pálava'') is a Landscape park (protected area), protected landscape area and a UNESCO biosphere reserve located in the South Moravian Region in the Czech Republic ...

. The area of the reservoir is protected as the Věstonice Reservoir Nature Reserve.

History

Prehistoric times

Dolní Věstonice is known for the Dolní Věstonice archaeological site. Approximately 25,000 years ago, during the

Upper Paleolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

period of the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

, a small settlement of

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

hunters consisting of huts built with rocks and mammoth bones was founded on the site of what is now Dolní Věstonice. This is the oldest permanent human settlement that has ever been found. Numerous other archaeological discoveries point to extensive human habitation of the area in prehistoric times. The archaeological site is also known for the finding of the

, one of the most important archaeological discoveries in Europe and one of the oldest and most famous art in the world.

9th–20th century

During the

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

period, which lasted between the 9th and 10th centuries, a small Slavic gord was built here. The gord protected a ford on an important trade route. The first written mention of Věstonice is from 1312. During the 13th century the place became inhabited by German colonists. In 1460, the village was promoted to a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

by King

George of Poděbrady George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad (; ), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the Hussites, but moderate and tolerant toward the ...

. From the beginning of the 16th century until their expulsion in 1622, the

Anabaptists Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. The term (tra ...

settled here. They were famous for their high level of education and the establishment of wine cellars, which have survived to this day. In 1938, it was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and administered as part of the Reichsgau Niederdonau. The German speaking population was expelled in 1945 according to the

Beneš decrees The Beneš decrees were a series of laws drafted by the Czechoslovak government-in-exile in the absence of the Czechoslovak parliament during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II. They were issued by President Edvard Beneš fr ...

and replaced by Czech settlers.

Demographics

Economy

Dolní Věstonice is known for

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

. The municipality lies in the

Mikulovská wine Mikulovská is one of four Czech wine regions within southern Moravia, Czech Republic. The Mikulovská wine region, containing 30 wine villages, is famed for producing white wines grown in the limestone soils, particularly in and around the area o ...

subregion.

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights

The main landmark of Dolní Věstonice is the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. It is a Baroque building with a Gothic core and Renaissance tower. Tourist attractions follow the archaeological glory of the municipality. The archaeological site includes an outdoor exhibition. An educational archeological path leads from Dolní Věstonice to neighbouring

Pavlov Pavlov (or its variant Pavliv) may refer to: People *Pavlov (surname) (fem. ''Pavlova''), a common Bulgarian and Russian last name *Ivan Pavlov, Russian physiologist famous for his experiments in classical conditioning Places Czech Republic *Pavlo ...

. Remains of the gord rampart and floor plan of the church, which stood here until the early 13th century, are preserved.

References

External links

*
Photographs of the area and archaeological artefacts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolni Vestonice Villages in Břeclav District Stone Age Czech Republic Archaeology of Moravia Margraviate of Moravia