Svitavy: Hotels and accommodations

Svitavy combines historic urban traces, exhibitions and nature trails to create a diverse townscape.

Culture

The Church of St. Giles preserves its original interior furnishings, including the Chapel of St. Nicholas, the Marian Chapel, altars and a pulpit. The Town Museum and Svitavy Gallery focus their collection, exhibition and educational work primarily on regional history, fine art, crafts and the folk traditions of the Hřebečsko region.

The “History of Washing” exhibition includes a laundry room where you can try washing on a washboard and mangling laundry with a historical mangle. The exhibition at the Esperanto Museum documents the origins and history of the Esperanto movement in the Czech Republic and abroad, demonstrates the diverse practical uses of Esperanto today, and pays special attention to Esperanto activities in the Svitavy region. “Searching for David’s Star” tells the story of Oskar and Emilie Schindler, who saved 1,200 persecuted Jews during the Second World War.

Town History and Remembrance

The Svitavy heritage trail leads across the main square and through old lanes, past reminders of the town’s former textile-industrial prosperity, the manufacturers’ residential villas and garden parks. It can be walked in less than two hours.

Ottendorferův dům opened in 1892 as a library and reading room; its construction was fully financed by the patron Oswald Ottendorfer. The monument to Oskar Schindler in front of his birthplace symbolizes Svitavy as a town of three nationalities: Czechs, Germans and Jews. The inscription on the monument commemorates the saving of lives during the Holocaust.

Nature by the Water

The educational trail to the sources of the Svitava leads through the attractive and heavily visited recreational area around Svitavy’s two largest ponds, Rosnička and Dolní rybník. It provides information about the biology, ecology and history of the ponds, life in the forest and the source area of the Svitava.

The ornithological observation point in Svitavy offers excellent visibility for observing birds, particularly in the back areas of the pond overgrown with reeds, cattails, sweet grasses and sedges.

Trails and Experiences

The Brand forest recreational area offers a twelve-kilometre cycling route with an uncomplicated elevation profile that children can also complete without difficulty. Sváťova zážitková cesta offers a storytelling adventure: you can free the Swan Princess or take part in tournaments involving board games and marbles.

The Stezka příběhů lesa pod Sluneční Strání uses information panels to introduce the animals and plants that can be encountered on the Javornický ridge.

More destination pages: Želivsko, Suchá Lhota, Litomyšl, Karle, Budislav, Koruna, Kukle, Tržek.

For the higher-level travel overview: Svitavy District.