Urbanov: Church, Landscape and Baroque Traces

In Urbanov, the Church of Saint John the Baptist stands on a spur above the river and overlooks the surrounding landscape. Its elevated location combines a striking building with broad views of the area. For planning your own trip, two aspects of this place can be considered together: the history of the church complex and the landscape visible from its location.

Routes and Transport

Marked cycle paths run through Urbanov. Class II road II/403 from Kouty to Telč runs through Urbanov. Urbanov is also served by public bus services.

Nature

Stráň v Urbanově is registered as a significant landscape feature (VKP). The shallow soils of this landscape feature support relatively species-poor vegetation with a high proportion of comparatively drought-tolerant and warmth-loving species. Those who consider the landscape and the history of the town together will find two different spatial points of reference for Urbanov in Stráň and the elevated church.

This results in different focal points for perceiving the place: the church represents the elevated location and the history of the town, while Stráň represents the landscape context; paths, the road and bus services describe the transport framework. These levels can be considered separately without mixing the individual features. This keeps the focus both on individual forms and on their spatial arrangement.

Culture and History

According to the assessment of historian Prof. Dr. Václav Richtr, the Church of Saint John the Baptist was founded between 1220 and 1230. The enclosing wall of the former medieval cemetery closes off the complex of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Urbanov. The Chapel of Saint Barbara, a small late Baroque sacred building, is located within this enclosing wall. It has a rectangular ground plan, a three-sided termination and a round-arched vaulted entrance. A small bell tower crowns the chapel’s hipped roof.

The statue of Saint John of Nepomuk was erected and consecrated on 17 September 1729. A valuable Baroque statue of the same saint stands in the square in front of the church complex in Urbanov. The cross in Urbanov is a rare, high-quality piece of wrought ironwork with rich Baroque and Rococo ornamentation on a tall stone pedestal. Urbanov also has a Neoclassical cross from 1825, surrounded by a stone balustrade enclosure. Several forms of sacred design thus stand side by side at and around the church complex: late Baroque architecture, Baroque sculpture, richly ornamented wrought ironwork and a Neoclassical work.

Hotels and Further Town Pages

When planning accommodation in Urbanov, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions can be considered separately. For planning purposes, these details can be read side by side so that the travel period, desired room category and the respective conditions remain visible as separate decision points. Such a comparison keeps the preparations clear without reducing the visit to the town to accommodation alone.

Further town pages: Stáj, Kostelec, Nová Ríse, Pavlov, Suchá, Nevcehle, Batelov, Mysliboř

For the higher-level travel overview: Jihlava District.