The route to Zelena Hora is 2 hours from Prague and 1 hour from Brno, but we recommend tо visit Tugendhat Villa in Brno. The pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk near the monastery in Žďár was built thanks to the longtime, close and immensely fruitful cooperation of two extraordinary people. The impulse was given by Václav Vejmluva, an abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Žďár, who was a proven devotee of John of Nepomuk before he was beatified as well as after he was canonized.

 First route: Prague - Zdar nad Sazavou

Distance: 160 km

The Pilgrim Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelena hora (Green Hill)  was built between 1719 and 1722 according to the plans of Jan Blažej Santini Aichl from the initiative of Vaclav Vejmluva, a significant abbot of the Cistercian monastery. The church is one of the supreme pieces of Baroque Gothic in Europe. The pilgrimage site was added to UNESCO Heritage List in 1994.

The design of the building was entrusted to famous architect Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel to whom abbot Vejmluva is alleged to have presented his ideas about the new sanctuary and the symbols used, which was fully compliant with the requirement of the Church: “Fathers propose, artists create“. The architect then worked on the basis of the outline. Santini dealt with the project quite individually, without any respect to the traditions concerning the shapes of religious buildings; he only accepted the contemporary viewpoint of the structure of a pilgrimage destination.

The web site of this UNESCO object is http://www.zelena-hora.cz/en

 

(с) zelena-hora.cz

Second route: Zelena Hora - Brno, vila Tugendhat

Distance: 80 km

The Villa of Greta and Fritz Tugendhat, designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and built in 1929–1930, is a monument of modern architecture, and is the only example of modern architecture in the Czech Republic inscribed in the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites.
Between 2010 and 2012 the Villa Tugendhat underwent renovation and restoration work, during which both the structure and the adjoining gardens were restored to their original appearance following the completion of the Villa in 1930. The interiors have been equipped with exact replicas of the original furnishings.

“The purpose of the structure provides it with its actual sense. (…) A dwelling should only serve for housing. The location of the structure, its location in relation to the sun, the layout of the spaces and the construction materials are the essential factors for creating a dwelling house. A building organism must be created out of these conditions.”
These thoughts were expressed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the year 1924 and fully employed on the Brno Villa. 

Apart from Mies' personality and his original conception of space, the Tugendhats were also particularly impressed by his feeling for material. “He consequently explained the importance of utilising noble materials in Modernist structures, in particular, which do not contain decorations or ornamentation, this having been a neglected idea up until then by even, for example, Le Corbusier.”

The exhibition on the Tugendhat Villa is composed of 14 comprehensive topics dealing with the history of the villa in several time periods. Accompanying texts of individual “chapters” do not directly follow up on each other in their structure. The exhibition concept allows, if necessary, to divide the exhibition into several exhibition rooms, depending on the space available. Comprehensive themes also allow the use of only some part of the display panels. Large-format photographs that are printed in the same size and format as the text panels introduce visitors to the atmosphere of the Villa Tugendhat using details of the design furniture, materials and well-known iconic parts of the house, such as the chrome column cladding in the interior or a vista through the broad windows into the villa garden. By prior arrangement the exhibition can be complemented by an illuminated 1:50 model of the building, a photo slideshow, a lecture or a film screening of a docudrama “The Fate of Tugendhat” produced by Czech Television Consignment sale of the Study and Documentation Centre at Villa Tugendhat publications can also be arranged. 

The duration of the way back to Prague by hired car in RUNWELL is 200 km. 

(с) tugendhat.eu