Široká Niva

Široká Niva (until 1952 Bretnov; Breitenau) is a municipality and village in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Pocheň and Skrbovice are administrative parts of Široká Niva.

Etymology
The name literally means "wide floodplain".

Geography
Široká Niva is located about 8 km north of Bruntál and 54 km north of Olomouc. It lies in the Nízký Jeseník range. The highest point is the hill Zlatý kopec at 693 m above sea level. The Opava River flows through the municipality.

History
The first written mention of Markvartice is from 1278 and the first written mention of Bretnov is from 1420. Pocheň was established in 1668. Skrbovice was founded by the Teutonic Order in 1678. In 1949, the municipalities of Markvartice, Bretnov and Skrbovice (including the hamlet of Pocheň) were merged. The new municipality was renamed to its current name Široká Niva in 1952. Today Markvartice is only a local name of a small part of Široká Niva.

Transport
Široká Niva is located on the railway line Vrbno pod Pradědem–Milotice nad Opavou.

Sights
The main landmark of Široká Niva is the Church of Saint Martin. It was built in the Baroque style in 1718–1721.

Notable people

 * Anton Zimmermann (1741–1781), Slovak composer
 * Rudolf Koppitz (1884–1936), Austrian photographer