Mikulčice

Mikulčice is a municipality and village in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The village of Těšice is an administrative part of Mikulčice. Mikulčice and Těšice are urbanistically fused.

Geography
Mikulčice is located about 6 km southwest of Hodonín and 52 km southeast of Brno, on the border with Slovakia. It lies in a flat landscape of the Lower Morava Valley. The municipality is crossed by the Kyjovka River. The Czech-Slovak border is formed here by the Morava River.

History
From the 6th until the 10th century, a Slavic fortified settlement existed 3 km southeast from the modern village on the site called Mikulčice-Valy. The settlement was one of the main centres of the Great Moravian Empire, plausibly its capital city. Excavations unearthed the remnants of twelve churches, a palace, and more than 2,500 graves (including a horse burial).

The first written mention of Mikulčice is from 1141. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was first mentioned in 1353. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fortress stood here. The fortress was probably destroyed during the Hussite Wars.

The village was heavily damaged by the 2021 South Moravia tornado.

Economy
The local economy is predominantly based on agriculture and tourism.

Transport
The I/55 road (the section from Břeclav to Hodonín) passes through the municipal territory.

The railway line Přerov–Břeclav runs through Mikulčice, but there is no train station. The municipality is served by the station in neighbouring Lužice.

Sights
The main landmark of Mikulčice is the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The original Gothic building from the mid-14th century was replaced by the current structure around 1500. In 1605 and 1683, the church burned down and was reconstructed. In the 1730s, it was rebuilt in the Baroque style, but the Gothic core has been preserved.

The Mikulčice-Valy site is the main tourist attraction. It is freely accessible. It includes an exhibition with archeological finds from this area, administered by the Masaryk Museum in Hodonín. Since 1962, the site has been protected as a national cultural monument.

Notable people

 * Miloslav Balun (1920–1994), pair skater