SOUTH MORAVIA

Czech Republic

The case study area is located in the South Moravian Region. The territory consists of three NUTS 4 districts Znojmo, Břeclav, Hodonín. The territory has 384,000 inhabitants and 3,700 km2. The settlement system consists of three medium-sized towns and 246 small towns and rural municipalities with the centre in Brno. The limestone cliff of the Pavlovské Hills dominates in the landscape. The eastern part is bordered by the White Carpathians.

The case study area is unique by the tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The historical heritage contains a collection of 70 castles. The composite landscape of the Lednice-Valtice area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A settlement of mammoth hunters in Dolní Věstonice includes a female ceramic sculpture "Venus of Věstonice” from 29,000 to 25,000 B.C. Slavic settlement from the Great Moravian Empire in Mikulčice is another archaeological site. The natural heritage includes Podyjí National Park, protected landscape areas Pálava and White Carpathians and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Lower Morava.

Intangible cultural heritage is represented by wine, gastronomic and folklore culture. Most of the Czech vineyards and several wine trails and cycle routes are concentrated in the study area. The International Folklore Festival Strážnice is the oldest event of its kind in Europe. Ethnographic celebration the “Ride of Kings” and male folk dance "verbuňk" are parts of the intangible UNESCO world heritage.

Policy Brief:

Peer-reviewed articles:

Vaishar Antonín, & Šťastná Milada. (2021). Accessibility of Services in Rural Areas: Southern Moravia Case Study.

Šťastná, Milada, Antonín Vaishar, Jiří Brychta, Kristýna Tuzová, Jan Zloch, and Veronika Stodolová. (2020). "Cultural Tourism as a Driver of Rural Development. Case Study: Southern Moravia"

Vaishar, A., Šťastná, M., Ryglová, K., Rašovská, I., Zámečník, S. (2020). Cultural tourism as a possible driver of rural development in Czechia. Wine tourism in Moravia as a case study.

Vaishar, A., Šťastná, M. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism in Czechia Preliminary considerations.

Vaishar, A., Šťastná M., Zapletalová, J., Nováková, E. (2020). Is the European countryside depopulating? Case study Moravia.

Vaishar Antonín; Šťastná Milada (2021). RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN SPARSELY POPULATED AREAS. VRANOV NA DYJÍ MICRO-REGION IN MORAVIA.

Vaishar, A., Šťastná, M., Kramáreková, H. (2022). Moravian–Slovak Borderland: Possibilities for Rural Development.

Vaishar, Antonín, Šťastná, Milada, & Zapletalová, Jana. (2022). Small industrial towns in Moravia: a comparison of the production and post-productive eras.

Good practices:

Moravian Wine Trail