The Windmill in Kuželov – the National Cultural Monument

It is one of the few preserved windmills of a so-called Dutch type. It was built in 1842 and it was used for more than 100 years. It stopped its operation in 1946. An extensive reconstruction was done there and it was restored to working condition, but only as an exhibit of the Technical Museum in Brno.

The mill has a cone-shaped stone construction which carries a revolving shingle roof and four wings of the windmill which are attached to the shaft. The grinding device corresponds technologically to the so-called Czech composition. Next to the windmill there are residential and farm buildings with the display of highlanders’ housing and farming at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Various tools which the millers used for maintenance of the mill are also displayed. In July a traditional ethnographic festival Horňácké slavnosti is held there.

The windmill is located on a treeless range of Bílé Karpaty above Kuželov village, southwest of Velká nad Veličkou.

Where is it located?

How to get there

By car

Go along the D2 motorway, take the exit direction Hodonín (road No. 55), go on via Hodonín and Strážnice to Veselí nad Moravou, then direction Hroznová Lhota and via Hrubá Vrbka to Kuželov. Parking is possible directly at the mill.

Public transport

Go by train R6 (Brno–Veselí nad Moravou), then change to train S91 (Veselí nad Moravou–Velká nad Veličkou). Then walk from Velká nad Veličkou along the tourist route marked with green signs up to the mill in Kuželov (about 4 km). Or you may take a bus from Velká nad Veličkou to Kuželov.

The Complex of the Czechoslovak Fortification in Šatov

The fortification complex at the southern border of Czechoslovakia was created between 1935-1938. It consisted of objects of heavy fortification – infantry blocks, and light fortification – pillboxes. Some of these buildings were also used by the army after the war. The Technical Museum in Brno runs the MJ – S3 Zahrada Infantry Block. It organizes regular tours in the bunker with a guide. The bunker was reconstructed to its shape from the 1980s. It is equipped with weaponry and arms, including two fortification cannons 44/59, that were used there by the army in 1960-1999.  In the complex of the Czechoslovak fortification you can see the pillbox no. 37, antitank and anti-personnel weapons or even a fortification watchtower and a replica of so-called signal walls protecting the frontier area.

Šatov is located in the south of Moravia close to the borders with Austria, south of Znojmo.

Where is it located?

How to get there

By car

Go along the road No. 53 from Brno to Znojmo, when you arrive in Znojmo take the road No. 38 direction Hatě, then (at the outskirsts of Znojmo), turn right to the road No. 413 direction Retz. After you pass Havraníky, turn left direction Šatov. Follow the signs indicating the way to the bunker. The parking capacity is rather limited, mainly during events, please park your car in the village and then walk.

Public transport

Take a bus from Brno to Znojmo, in Znojmo change to a bus from Znojmo to Šatov, in Šatov get off at the bus stop called “Obecní úřad” and then walk to the bunker. Another possibility is to take a train from Znojmo direction Retz and to get off the train at Šatov station.

Blacksmithery in Těšany – the Cultural Monument

The Těšany forge belonged to a manorial demesne since the Middle Ages, and its contemporary shape is from 1700. The forge building has four wings and it was built in rural Baroque style with arcades and a garden. The most important part of the display is the Blacksmith’s workroom with original equipment – a furnace with a wide open chimney, bellows, an anvil, a workbench and tools. When there are special events held, you can see a blacksmith there. The display is followed by a wheelwright’s shop with a presentation about wheel production, equipment and tools. In the barns there are exhibits of agricultural tools and blacksmiths’ production. You can visit a living part of the building. The period furniture and dishes are displayed there so that you can easily imagine the life of such craftsmen.

Tešany is located southeast of Brno.

Where is it located?

How to get there

By car

Go from Brno via Tuřany along the road No. 380 via Telnice and Moutnice to Těšany and park your car somewhere in the village.

Public transport

Take a bus from Brno  to Klobouky u Brna (direction Hodonín) and get off at the bus stop “Těšany”

Watermill in Slup – the Natinal Cultural Monument

It is a remarkable Renaissance building of a large mill with four functional water wheels and a millrace. In 2009 the Technical Museum in Brno opened a new display there. It is called the Development of Milling, and it was awarded 1st place in the Gloria musaealis competition. The core of the tour is in the mill. There visitors can see four complete production parts – an old Czech milling composition, a composition for millet processing, an American composition and a roller composition. These are used to explain the principle of the grain grinding process. The Krhovicko-jaroslavický millrace, which is under the mill, is also a technical monument. Currently, it is 30 km long.

Slup is locatedd in the Southern Moravia close to borders with Austria near Znojmo.

Where is it located?

How to get there

By car

Go along the road No. 53 Brno–Znojmo, just before you reach Lechovice turn left direction Mackovice, then go forward via Božice, Hrádek and Jaroslavice before you come to Slup.  Parking is possible directly before the mill or somewhere in the village.

Public transport

Take a bus Brno–Znojmo, in Znojmo change to a bus Znojmo–Slup (direction Jaroslavice, Hevlín)
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The Old Ironworks near Adamov – the National Cultural Monument

It is the remains of the metallurgical industry complex which was built there in the Křtinský rivulet valley in the first half of the 18th century by order of Jan Adam, the Prince of Lichtenstein. However, at the end of the 19th century it was closed because it was not profitable and some of the buildings were destroyed. The contemporary landmark complex displays a high charcoal furnace, a loading platform, two furnaces for lime burning and a former modeling department called Kameňák. Presently, it is an exhibition on iron processiing in the central part of the Moravian karst area. The complex of buildings is supplemented with Švýcarna that now has an ecological centre and residential houses in private ownership. The blast furnace, called Františka, is 10 meters high and because of its size it is an impressive landmark of the entire complex. There are experimental and demo melting processes performed in the replicas of the Slavonic iron furnaces organized by the Technical Museum in Brno.

The Old Ironworks (Stará huť) is located in the central part of the Moravian karst, in the Josefovský valley, between Adamov and Křtiny.

Where is it located?

Šlakhamr in Hamry nad Sázavou – the Cultural Monument

Originally it was a medieval iron mill – a mechanical blacksmith’s workshop which processed iron ore from the surroundings. It ceased operation in the 17th century. After that the millrace was used for a grain mill which operated there until WW2. The last owners were the Brdíček family. In 2011 the Technical Museum in Brno opened a display devoted to iron-milling, lumbering and housing of the last owners. The most important part of the display is a fully functional iron-milling device which is now used by blacksmiths during special events. Visitors of standard tours can see the operation of the water wheel which is used for the operation of the water hammer.

The site is located in Českomoravská vrchovina close to Žďár nad Sázavou in a wooded valley of the Sázava river near the village of Hamry nad Sázavou.

Where is it located?

How to get there

By car

From Brno: go along D1 motorway to Velká Bíteš, then along the road No. 37 via Křižanov to Žďár nad Sázavou. In Žďár nad Sázavou go direction Havlíčkův Brod (road No. 19), turn right at the petrol station and go along the local communication to the village of Hamry nad Sázavou, the part called Najdek. Park your car there and walk following the red tourist signs past the sculpture of mammoth to the crossroads Rozštípená skála and further to Šlakhamr (the walk is about 1 km long).

From Prague: go along D1 motorway to Humpolec, then along the road No. 19 via Havlíčkův Brod and Přibyslav to the village of Hamry nad Sázavou. Turn right at the petrol station and go along the local communication to the village of Hamry nad Sázavou, the part called Najdek. Park your car there and walk following the red tourist signs past the sculpture of mammoth to the crossroads Rozštípená skála and further to Šlakhamr (the walk is about 1 km long).

Public transport

train Brno–Žďár nad Sázavou, then a walk (cca 6 km) or train Žďár nad Sázavou–Havlíčkův Brod (to the station called Hamry nad Sázavou) or bus Žďár–Hamry nad Sázavou, then a walk
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