The town of Valašské Meziříčí lies in the lovely countryside of the Beskids piedmont at the confluence of the two branches of the Bečva River. In fact, Valašské Meziříčí consists of the twin towns Krásno nad Bečvou and Meziříčí. Hills and mountains are all around: three hill groups reach very close to the town-the Veřovické Vrchy, the Vsetínské Vrchy and the Hostýnské Vrchy. The atmosphere in town is a compromise between the country idyll and the bustle one might expect to see in a regional centre with railway and road crossings. A written record of 1297 is probably the first document giving a sign of the place's existence. A real town appeared in the middle of the l4th century and was christened Schönstadt at first, a semantic equivalent of the Czech Krásno in German, but Meziříčí had become more common later, denoting a place bound between two rivers. In 1377 Meziříčí was pronounced a town. It evolved into the capital of the domain and received walls as the only town in the Valašsko region in the middle of the lbth century. Krásno and Meziříčí belonged to the same lords and were earning their living from crafts and trade for almost all the time. Prosperity suffered during the 30-Year War which brought re peated plundering and fires to both. It was not until the l9th century that recovery and new boom set in. First industrial manufacturing shops were established at Krásno, but Meziříčí was chosen to be the district administrator's seat. Pioneer in colleges and high schools in the wider East Moravian context, Meziříčí was nicknamed "Walachian Athens" at that time. The end of 1923 put an end to the independence, merging the two towns into Valašské Meziříčí to which another eight villages were attached during the period between 1949-1980. The now protected historical core has many interesting houses to boast of. Some of these are "The Apostles" House with figure relief ornamentation of the fa~ade; the Town Hall with a stucco facade in the style of rococo, the coat-ofarms and a stone portal; houses like "U zvonu" (Bell House), "U černého orla" (Black Eagle), and the late l9thcentury neo-Renaissance "Mikyška's House". The Lords of the domain dwelled at the 1538 Renaissance Žerotín Mansion found only a few steps away from the square. Another mansion is the Empire house of the Kinskýs in former Krásno which now houses the museum of local history, tapestry and glass. The oldest building in town is the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary Assumption Church from the late l4th century. The Most Holy Trinity's Church harbours a lapidary of Renaissance and baroque statues. Valašské Meziříčí is not only a collection of historic monuments. Much is happening in culture, sports and even in the stars you can watch from the cupola of the local observatory. Also, many hiking paths and biking tracks start right here.