Prague, with its Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architectural masterpieces on cobblestoned lanes and riverside slopes, is undoubtedly an excellent choice for any trip to Czechia β it's hard to beat the lure of a pop-up-book, riverside old town. But then head to the country's eastern region of Moravia , where its provincial capital, Brno , shows another side to Czech city culture and creativity.
Brno's cityscape melds imperial-era facades with modernist buildings and beautiful Art Nouveau villas from its industrial boom days. While its many museums are stacked with arts and artifacts, the city is better known for its playful statues and quirky sculptures. A university city, Brno is also home to more trendy bistros, bars and grassroots enterprises than you could explore in one visit. Here's why you should consider it for your next European city break.
Brno is a very social city, with a culture-packed calendar of events year-round, from craft beer and food feasts to the stall-packed Advent-time Christmas markets and various pop, jazz, art and opera festivals. Brno's unconventional sites include medieval tunnels, water tanks, burial chambers and wartime bunkers. The Labyrinth under the Vegetable Market is the largest site β an 8m-deep 1km web of wine cellar and siege hideout passageways dating to the Middle Ages.
Or step inside Brno's three newly opened cathedral-like Water Tanks , which showcase 19th-century architectural water supply ingenuity, infinite-looking chambers and vaulted echo chambers. Underground explorations continue at the Ossuary at St. James' Church , Europe's second-largest ossuary, which displays bones from 50, plague and war victims, while the Capuchin Crypt holds naturally mummified monks and benefactors.
Then there's Brno's Cold War bunkers: nuclear fallout shelter Z remained a classified secret until , and Bunker Denis , a 1km network of rock-carved corridors, stretches beneath Petrov Cathedral hill. The Old Town Hall is Brno's oldest building and a quintessential starting point when touring its medieval buildings.
