Podivín

Podivín (Kostel) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants.

Geography
Podivín is located about 9 km north of Břeclav and 45 km southeast of Brno. It lies in a flat agricultural landscape in the Lower Morava Valley. The Thaya River flows through the southern part of the municipal territory. The Trkmanka River flows along the western border and then joins the Thaya.

History
The first written mention of Podivín is in Chronica Boemorum and is related to the years 1062–1067. From the 1520s until their expulsion in 1622, the Anabaptist community existed in the town. The Jewish community was first documented in 1619, when there was 140 Jews.

Transport
The D2 motorway (part of the European route E65) from Brno to Břeclav passes through the municipal territory.

Podivín is located on the Brno–Staré Město railway line.

Sights
The main landmark of Podivín is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. It is a Gothic church, rebuilt into its present form in 1791. Part of the enclosure wall of the church is the Chapel of Saints Cyril and Methodius. It was built in 1857 on the site of a medieval chapel.

The Jewish cemetery consists of 1,000 tombs; the oldest one is from 1694. The ceremonial hall dates from the 19th century.

Notable people

 * Vit Klemes (1932–2010), Czech-Canadian hydrologist
 * Jan Kostrhun (1942–2022), politician