Mikulčice () is a municipality and village in

Hodonín District Hodonín District () is a Okres, district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Hodonín. Administrative division Hodonín District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with ...

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 2,000 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Mikulčice consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Mikulčice (974) *Těšice (921)

Geography

Mikulčice is located about southwest of

Hodonín Hodonín (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. Geography Hodonín is located about southeast of Brno, on the border with Slovakia. It lies in a flat landscape of the Lower Morava Va ...

and southeast 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 ...

, on the border with

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. It lies in a flat landscape of the

Lower Morava Valley The Lower Morava Valley (; ; ) is a geomorphological formation (special type of valley) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is formed by the depression in the Western Carpathians (Ždánice Forest, Kyjov Hills and Pálava Protected Landscap ...

. The municipality is crossed by the

Kyjovka The Kyjovka (also known as Stupava) is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Thaya River. It flows through the South Moravian Region, South Moravian and Zlín Region, Zlín regions. It is long. Etymology The river is named after ...

River. The Czech-Slovak border is formed here by the Morava River.

History

From the 6th until the 10th century, a

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

fortified settlement existed 3 km southeast from the modern village on the site called Mikulčice-Valy. The settlement was one of the main centres of 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 ...

n Empire, plausibly its

capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

. Excavations unearthed the remnants of twelve churches, a palace, and more than 2,500 graves (including a

horse burial Horse burial is the practice of Burial, burying a horse as part of the ritual of human burial, and is found among many Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking peoples and others, including Chinese people, Chinese and Turkic peoples. The ...

). The first written mention of Mikulčice is from 1141. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was first mentioned in 1353. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fortress stood here. The fortress was probably destroyed during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...

. Mikulčice was heavily damaged by the

2021 South Moravia tornado In the evening hours of June 24, 2021, a rare, violent, and deadly long-tracked tornado struck several villages in the Hodonín District, Hodonín and Břeclav District, Břeclav districts of the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic, kil ...

Demographics

Economy

The local economy is predominantly based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

Transport

The I/55 road (the section from

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 ...

) passes through the municipal territory. The railway line

Přerov Přerov (; ) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 41,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Bečva River. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the Czech Republic. The historic city centre is we ...

–Břeclav runs through Mikulčice, but there is no train station. The municipality is served by the station in neighbouring Lužice.

Sights

The main landmark of Mikulčice is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The original Gothic building from the mid-14th century was replaced by the current structure around 1500. In 1605 and 1683, the church burned down and was reconstructed. In the 1730s, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style, but the Gothic core has been preserved. The Mikulčice-Valy site is the main tourist attraction. It is freely accessible. It includes an exhibition with archeological finds from this area, administered by the Masaryk Museum in

. Since 1962, the site has been protected as a national cultural monument.

Notable people

* Miloslav Balun (1920–1994), pair skater

References

External links

*
Mikulčice-Valy archaeological site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikulcice Villages in Hodonín District Great Moravia Moravian Slovakia