The Vysočina Region

Intorduction
The Vysočina Region is a young region. Its name is connected with the Bohemian-Moravian
Highlands, which can be found in the south-eastern part of the historical Bohemia region and
in the south-west part of South Moravia. It is one of the administrative units of the Czech
Republic. Its capital is Jihlava. There are two main mountain ranges the Žďárské Vrchy and
the Jihlavské Vrchy, the maximum height of the hills is 800 m.You can find the Jihlava River,
the Sázava, the Oslava there.

Districts and towns

There are lovely towns places in the hilly countryside. The most important towns are the
centres of local districts – Jihlava District, Třebíč District, Žďár nad Sázavou District,
Pelhřimov District and Havlíčkův Brod District.

UNESCO sites in the region

You can find three UNESCO World Heritage Sites there – Historic Centre of Telč, Pilgrimage
Church of St. John Nepomuk on Green Mountain in Žďár nad Sázavou and St. Procopius´
Basilica and the Jewish Town in Třebíč.

Countryside
The region is agricultural, not polluted. The environment is lovely – hilly landscape with a lot
of ponds and forests which attract many people who come and visit this part of the Czech
Republic.

Industry
On the other hand new factories are being built and the Vysočina Region is among the fast-
developing regions of the country. D1 motorway is crucial for the transport. The nuclear
power plant Dukovany belongs among the major employers in our region, on the other hand it
can be considered a bit controversial for some people. Nevertheless, everybody knows that
our society needs a lot of energy.

Třebíč District
Introduction
Třebíč district is a district in the Moravian part of the Vysočina region in the Czech Republic.
The most important city is Třebíč, which is the second largest city in the region after Jihlava.

Countryside
The region of Třebíč is a calm landscape where we can find both rounded hills and shallow
valleys, woods and fields, ponds, meadows and hillsides. It is the typical landscape of the
Bohemian and Moravian Highlands. In this area there are several nature reserves. The
Mohleno steppe with its pigmy plants and animals is very famous. In our region there are
other interesting places, too, such as the little hill of Ptáčov, or syenite rocks near Pocoucov.

.
Třebíč
Introduction
Třebíč can be found in the south-eastern part of the Bohemia-Moravian Highlands on the both
banks of the River Jihlava. It is about 60 kilometres west from Brno and about 150 kilometres
south-east from Prague. There live almost 40,000 inhabitants. It is the historical,
administrative, cultural and economic centre of the region.

History
The history of the town is long. It has many artistic sights, e. g. the Basilica of St. Procopius´
was built in Roman-Gothic style, between 1240 – 1260. It has three aisles. Moreover a
remarkable crypt can be found there where Moravian members of the Přemyslid family were
buried. Next to the Basilica there is a castle which houses the Vysočina Museum with the
world famous exposition of Christmas cribs, pipes and Moravian moldavites.

After the Benedictine monastery had been built here in the early 12th century (1101), the
town was founded later in the thirteenth century. It survived the siege by Mathias Corvinus in
1468 and became an important centre of spirituality and trade.

UNESCO sights
We are proud of our UNESCO sights. In 2003 St. Procopius´ Basilica and the Jewish Quarter
with the Jewish Cemetery were enlisted into the UNESCO World Heritage Sights list. These
monuments witness the fact that the Christian and Jewish communities used to live here
peacefully. The first Jews came to Třebíč at the beginning of the 13 th century and started to
settle on the left bank of the river Jihlava. The community lived separately from their
Christian neighbours and had their own hospital, school, two synagogues and town hall.
During the Second World War, almost 300 Jewish people from Třebíč were sent to Nazi
concentration camps. Only a few came back after the war. The Jewish Quarter is greatly
interesting as there are 123 historical buildings including two synagogues. The Old one, is
rebuilt in Neogothic style and is now used by the Czech Husssite Church. The other one is
called the New Synagogue and is built in Renaissance style and decorated with stucco. In the
large Jewish Cemetery there are many Renaissance and Baroque tombstones.

The centre of the town

Tourists can also admire the central part of the town and the original large square from the
13th century with some interesting historical buildings, especially the so called Painted House
and the Black House with graffiti decorations from the 17 th century. The painted House has
been restored and is used for cultural purposes and it serves as a ceremonial place for
weddings and other festivities.

Above the central historical part of the town there is a stately tower with a clock, the face of
which is the largest in the Czech Republic. The tower was formerly a part of the town
fortification. In the 18th century it was appended to the church of St. Martin.

Culture and education

Třebíč is the centre of culture, education and business. There are about twelve elementary
schools and a lot of secondary schools. For example Grammar School, Secondary School of
Commerce and Hotel Management, Secondary School of Machine Engineering, Secondary
School of Agriculture and Nursing, and of course Secondary School of Civil Engineering.

Entertainment
There is a cinema and a few culture / common halls where all kinds of theatre and other
performances and concerts take place. However, there is no permanent theatre.
Food
There are a lot of restaurants and pubs of various levels. You can find a few fast food
restaurants like KFC, Kurd Kebab or Vietnamese restaurants, cafeterias which serve ready-
cooked food or there are a few fine pizza places. There are a lot of cafés or coffee places.
There are not many food trucks but a few food stands in the centre of the town. There also
aren´t any international restaurants, like Indian, Greek or Mexican.

Leisure activities
A lot of leisure activities can be done here. People can play various sports here, we have
sports centres, swimming pools, tennis courts, football fields and stadiums. Nice cycling paths
have been built recently and the beautiful surroundings of the town attract a lot of cyclists or
walkers. The environment here is clean and safe.

Industry
Třebíč used to be an industrial town. The biggest factory BOPO dealing with shoe-making
and employing 5000 people was closed in 2000. You can find TREPON Company producing
stockings and tights in Borovina areal. The whole Borovina compound is being revitalised.
New apartments were built there and companies can start their businesses there. You can still
find an old trademark company ZON producing soft drinks in Nezvalova street. There are a
lot of shops and services. Lots of local companies were founded in the 1990s and are
connected to the nuclear power plant in Dukovany.

Transportation
A lot of people commute to Třebíč every day to work and earn money for living. They can get
there by car, bus or train. There is public transport which people use to get around the town.