You would be hard put to find another place offering so much charm in such a small space. Holašovice, situated in the middle of the harmonious landscape of Southern Bohemia, is one of the most charming village in the whole of the Czech Republic.
This small community is a perfect representation of the traditional villages that used to dot the countryside of Central Europe. Most of them – almost all of them, in fact – have now disappeared. Holašovice is one of the few that remain and the only one that hasn’t been dramatically changed. It’s why UNESCO has included it on the World Heritage List.
The town has experienced two crippling blows over the years. The first was in the 16th century, when almost all of the original Czech inhabitants of the village were wiped out through plague, following which it was almost immediately occupied by German settlers.
The Second World War dealt another blow when the attempts made by the German inhabitants to join the village to the Reich were successful. After the war, in 1946, the enforced withdrawal began which affected the majority of the German inhabitants. The empty buildings were then inhabited by Czechs from the inland, who built very little here, with just some repairs and maintenance being carried out. The population grew until it reached the 140 people who live here today.
When touring Holašovice, make sure to also visit farm number 6. In the farm here, you can see what rural life was like and how the people farmed until the 1st half of the 20th century. Don’t forget to visit the cozy ceramics workshop too, where you can have an original mug, jug, cup or nameplate for your door made, or a number for your house with typical Southern Bohemian motifs.
Author: red
