Situated on both banks of the Jihlava River at an altitude of 400-450 m, Třebíč, the town of 40,000, has evolved into the administrative, cultural, social and industrial centre of south-western Moravia. Třebíč's history began with the Benedictine Monastery founded at the foothills of the Bohemian-Moravian Uplands in 1101. The Benedictine Order gave the town its coat-of-arms-three black copes placed on a silver beam of the red shield. Early l3th century gave the place its world-famous Romanesque-Gothic St Prokopius's Basilica. Třebíč's freedoms of a city were extended to the level of royal cities in 1335. Out of the many sights let us mention the only surviving Jewish ghetto of Central European type on which conservation works are going on at an international scale. The ghetto includes a large Jewish cemetery with almost 3,000 tombstones, the oldest one dating back to 1641. The list of records continues with a tower clock which has a dial of 3.5 m in diameter and one of the largest historical squares of 22,000 sq.m in area. The Gothic St Martin's Church was baroquised in 1715- 1730, the Capuchin Monastery dates back to 1686-1693. Presiding over the town, the 72 m tall tower was opened for the public in 1997. The WcstMoravian Museum in the château displays, among others, very interesting samples of folk Christmas cribs, moldavites and pipes. Each May, Třebíč lives up with the amateur thcatre festival "Divadelní Třebíč". Natives and visitors like the swimming-baths placed in a fine natural scenery and within easy access from the very centre of Třebíč. It has a 50 m swimming-pool and the attractive 85 m long toboggan. Industry is represented mainly by the engineering, shoemaking and a furniture factory. The country to the north and west of Třebíč is one of Czechia's cleanest regions while the soft, picturesque country of the piedmont of the Bohemian-Moravian Uplands abounds with opportunities for pleasant walks, swimming, fishing and mushroom picking.

River bath on the Polanka

The Jewish cemetery is one of Czechia's most important ones

Tower near the St Martin's Church, with the 'Painted House' in foreground

Central Europe's only surviving Jewish ghetto

Aerial view of the château and the St Prokopius's Basilica

Vault of the main ship in the St Prokopius's Basilica