Skanzen Modrá
Centre of history and tradition – a green holiday in Skanzen Modrá
Why visit Skanzen Modrá
Skanzen Modrá is proof that great visions can become a reality. The locality was a brownfield. Thanks to a change in the political climate, the village has managed to reclaim its ancestral heritage and within 30 years create an exemplary project.
The dry, damaged agricultural landscape has become a lively pond area, revived by native species of fruit and tree species, and rare animal and plants have returned. Thanks to research by archaeologists, a replica of a Great Moravian settlement from the 9th century has been created. All the visitor attractions in Skanzen Modrá are built in a unified, nature-friendly style. There is an educational area, “Living Water”, where visitors learn about the importance of water in the landscape. An underwater tunnel, 8 meters long, enters a freshwater world filled with fish and animals. It is unique in Europe.
Skanzen has shown that the return of rare animals which have disappeared in Central Europe to their original habitats is possible. For example, the giant sturgeon fish Vyzy and the largest turtles – Aurochs, the predecessors of modern cattle – have returned to the area after 800 years and are successfully breeding.
The video showcases Skanzen Modrá and attractions around the destination.
Culture & Local Life
Skanzen Modrá has become important not only as a tourist destination, but also a meeting place for both the local community and visitors. Events are held here throughout the year. Traditional events explain the history of the area. This history is connected with the present through maintaining the traditions, customs and spiritual heritage of the local community. The aim is to present history in a popular form and to build on contemporary life, which we are trying to enrich thanks to our amazing cultural heritage.
Other attractions are cultural festivals, plays, concerts, workshops, leisure activities focused on education and teaching of crafts and educational programs for schools.
Getting there
Skanzen Modrá is easilty accessible by train. A main railway junction with express and international transport, “Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště”, is 4 km away. The railway junction is close to a cycle path, a hiking trail and the pilgrimage trail of St. Cyril and Methodius. The railway junction is also connected to Skanzen Modrá by public transport.
International bus connections from Slovakia and Austria stop in Uherské Hradiště (8 km). A new section of motorway is being built to connect to Prague – Brno, Ostrava – Olomouc. The exit will be 2 km from Skanzen Modrá. Nearest international airports are: Brno (70 km / 1 hour), Ostrava (130 km / 2 hours), Bratislava / Slovak Republic (170 km / 2.5 hours), Vienna / Austria (170 km / 2.5 hours).
Getting around
For your green holiday in Skanzen Modrá, it is connected to a network of hiking and cycling trails. All tourist destinations are accessible by bike as well as by car. From the bus and railway junctions, there is a local bus service that stops at Skanzen Modrá.
Nature & Wildlife
Tourism has had a positive effect and has not harmed local nature and wildlife. One goal was to create ponds, wetlands and habitats and to revive traditional tree varieties. There was a gradual return of animals and plants which had disappeared from the locality for several decades. Once rare amphibians, as well as birds and mammals, have found their homes here again. The return of the ponds to their original locations has created breathtaking scenery, as the background to the open-air museum, the Velehrad Basilica and the medieval Buchlov Castle.
Sustainability
All construction has been undertaken in a nature-friendly way. For example, the rooves of buildings are made of reeds. Thanks to this old technology, hundreds of rare insects have moved into these rooves. Research by the scientific institute has shown the uniqueness of using traditional material as thermal insulation and as a shelter for very rare species of vanishing insects.
Also, the local municipality and the private sector are using environmentally friendly energy technologies. For example, public lighting generates its own energy. Heat pumps as well as residual heat from a distillery are used to heat buildings and create hot water. In the Živá voda area water is cooled via a heat pump for cold-loving species of fish, and energy from the bathing habitat is used to heat an exhibition. The water supply in the area is in part supplied by wind pump, in addition to natural spring water.
Health and Safety
All measures have been taken in line with government resolutions and regulations from the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic. Please visit the official government page to keep updated on the current measures taken before you embark on your green holiday in Skanzen Modrá.
Good Practice Story
The “Living Water” project is unique in Europe. Through an 8m long glass tunnel, visitors can enter the realm of freshwater fish and animals 4 meters below the surface. Connected to this project, the mayor of Modrá, Miroslav Kovářík, received the “Jože Plečnik Award” for his lifelong contribution to architecture and construction.
Travel tips from our editors
Visit the Basilica
The Basilica is an important spiritual center, a place of church pilgrimages and Cyril and Methodius celebrations. A place beyond spiritual, religious and cultural heritage. A jewel of the Moravian Baroque, the three-aisled basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Cyril and Methodius with its richly decorated interior is one of the most important places of pilgrimage in the Czech Republic. The basilica is open all year round for you to visit during your green holiday in Skanzen Modrá.
Baťa's Canal
This historic waterway with thirteen functional locks is currently navigable from Otrokovice to Rohatec. It offers attractive and non-traditional opportunities to get to know the region around the Morava River from Kroměříž to Hodonín. Today, the waterway is used exclusively for recreational purposes. From May to September, visitors can enjoy group recreational cruises on the canal, complete with sightseeing and gastronomic programs, or they can rent a boat and choose their own program. The entire waterway is accessible to those who own a boat. Motor boat, tourist ferry, canoe and bicycle rentals are prepared in Spytihněv, Staré Město, Uherské Hradiště, Babice, Veselí nad Moravou, Vnorovy, Strážnice, Sudoměřice and Hodonín.
Buchlovice Chateau
Buchlovice Chateau, located near Buchlov Castle, is one of the most important Baroque aristocratic residences in the Czech Republic. The quality of the architecture, the extensive collections, the famous owners and the importance in the history of the last years of the Habsburg monarchy make the chateau a place far beyond the borders of the Czech lands. In addition to the castle and park itself, visitors can see a unique collection of fuchsias, themed exhibitions and various cultural events. Little visitors will certainly appreciate the rescue station and a small zoo with many domestic and exotic animals.
Buchlov Castle
Defender of the Eastern Border of the Czech Crown Lands. Buchlov Castle is one of the oldest castles in the Czech Republic. Its origins date back to the first half of the 13th century. The significance of the castle lies primarily in the unique preservation of the original architectural elements of the individual construction. This is one of the rare examples in our architecture. The castle is also an exemplary illustration of the transformation of a strict Gothic castle into a comfortable Renaissance mansion. Buchlov Castle is the most significant landmark of the Moravian Slovácko region, together with the chapel of St. Barbara it forms a recreational and cultural environment of this area.
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Monument of Great Moravia
The monument, which was built on the foundations of the first discovered stone of a demonstrably Great Moravian building in our territory – the church “Na Valách”, has been a national cultural monument since 1969. At the same time, space is being created for the timeless cultural and historical values of this locality to be made available to the widest strata of society, especially the young generation, by specific museum methods and procedures, as an important source of information about the first state unit of Western Slavs – Great Moravia and its advanced culture.
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Hike and Bike
Thanks to a dense network of cycling routes, hiking trails and hypo trails, local and more distant destinations can be reached. The local landscape with its beautiful forests is very popular. You can escape the hustle and bustle of civilization, and relax near ponds and wetlands. Bicycle rentals: Old Town (5 km), Uherské Hradiště (8 km). Detailed information, including maps and recommended routes are provided in the information centers: Velehrad (1 km), Old Town (5 km), Uherské Hradiště (8 km), Buchlovice (9 km).
Volunteer Work
On a green holiday in Skanzen Modrá area, volunteers can take part in tree planting, greenery maintenance, animal feeding, archaeological research, fruit collection, maintenance of the area using old technologies, assistance with arranging events, cleaning the Living Water area to name a few.
Sustainability Recognitions
The Modrá Skanzen project and Miroslav Kovářík, the mayor of Modrá, have won a number of awards over the 20-year implementation period of the regeneration projects. Among the most important is the award for the Living Water project – “Joža Plečnik Award” for lifetime contribution to architecture and construction (10/2020). The area was also the regional winner in 1996 of the Green Ribbon for the care of greenery and in 1998 and 2003 the White Ribbon for work with youth.
In 2015, the municipality won a silver medal in the 40th European competition of towns and municipalities called Entente Florale Europe 2015 – European Flowering Settlements. It also won the main prize in the same competition for biodiversity.
Miroslav Kovářík
Mayor of Modrá
"The landscape and life in it is a great gift and it is our duty to maintain, improve and pass it on to our descendants. Our location is clear proof that a compromise can be made in a tourist destination between the life of the local community and the animals that belong to our country. We try to implement measures in a nature-friendly way. We also try to educate visitors to realize that the places we live in are only in our temporary care and we have no right to devastate them."
Josef Hájek
Director Skanzen Modrá
"Our goal is to make all visitors feel comfortable with us and happy to return. We emphasise what we produce in the area. In gastronomy we use local recipes, ingredients and herbs. In the distillery we use traditional fruits which are collected in our country. We also dry local fruits here. Visitors can enjoy our products in our Market in the Center of Moravian Slovakia Traditions. Also, we use of state-of-the-art technologies for the presentation and tasting of local wines and spirits. The heat produced from our distillery is used for heating a hotel complex. We think ecologically when planning the development of tourism."
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