Olomouc

We set out today to explore Olomouc. Olomouc used to be a walled town but not all the wall still stands. There is still remnants of the fortification on one side of the town. For a small town, it has 5 churches in about a 1 km radius.

Upper Square has the Astronomical Clock, the Town Hall, fountains, and the Trinity column. 3 of the 5 churches are here. St Wencheslus Cathedral, St Maurice and Our Lady of the Snow.

While the Lower Square has 2 fountains and the Maria column. St Michael and Church of the Annunciation.

Most of the churches are baroque with beautiful frescoes, sculptures and ornate altars and pulpits except The Church of the Annunciation. While we were there we couldn't go in because mass was on but we found a Musica Viva performance of sacred music for tonight so we will return later.

The Astronomical Clock only chimes at 12pm once a day. Unlike the one in Prague, the decorations reflect the socialist past not the apostolic biblical theme. Crowds gather to watch a very uneventful affair and even applaud at the end.

After exploring the town we caught a bus out to Kopecek Monastery, which took about half an hour.
The church was set on a hill overlooking Olomouc, with baroque architecture. Beautiful church and surrounds. Great elevation to see Olomouc town.

A very helpful Czech lady offered to help translate the Czech menu at lunch. We made her job easy by choosing exactly what she was eating.

The Sacred music performance was very uplifting. Performance was by 2 sopranos, a tenor and a bass. Between the hymns was a recital by an ensemble of violin, organ and an old wooden wind instrument that sounded like a clarinet without a reed.

Total distance walked 21.3 kmLue lisää