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The Iron Curtain Trail

www.ev13.eu; www.eurovelo13.cz www.eurovelo13.com Stezka Železné opony by train from Prague — – Šatov: by bus from Prague 4 h 38 min 214 km from Prague by car from Prague 2 h 36 min Target group: Pleasure seekers

A cycle trail full of stories under a spell of magnificent and often untouched countryside. For over forty years it was a place of fear and death. Today the longest EURO VELO route leads through the remains of the Iron Curtain which just recently divided two implacable camps. From Kirkenes in Norway to Rezovo in Bulgaria, the trail measures over 10,000 km. Culture and Nature along the European Green Belt The central section of the route, which traces the southern Czech border, is one of the most beautiful. What’s more, the South Moravian section leads through very gentle terrain, so even less skilled cyclists will enjoy it. It is a route of stories told by information boards, often making for sad reading. For decades this territory was forbidden, with hundreds of lives lost in attempts to cross the border into the free world. A threefold barbed-wire fence built into ploughed soil ran through the centre of the border strip, which was up to 10 km wide. For years, one of them was under high voltage. Guard towers stood at regular intervals. Only those willing to risk their lives dared to come close. Today the trail passes through an idyllic landscape, often virgin countryside, paradoxically preserved thanks to the long-forbidden border area. A bike ride here is intoxicating, often literally. The route is lined with wine cellar lanes and connected to the dense network of Moravian Wine Trails. Facilities are sufficient and hospitable – there are places to stay and more than enough opportunities to try the local cuisine. The trail is intersected by spas on the Moravian and Austrian sides, and you can also visit Aqualand Moravia, the country’s newest water amusement park, and Archeopark Pavlov and Dolní Věstonice with a unique underground museum of prehistory and the era of mammoth hunters. A ride along this trail is a thrilling story in itself. A contrast of glorious countryside and a terrifying past. One moment in the Czech Republic, the next in Austria – on one side the deep and wild forests of the Podyjí National Park; meanders of the Dyje and the glittering surface of the Vranov Reservoir; the medieval town of Znojmo, one of the most important wine centres in South Moravia; ponds; the Laa an der Thaya water castle; a freshwater pearl mussel museum in Felling and the smallest town in Austria, Hardegg and its Romanesque border castle; prickly vineyards, churches, monasteries,

Jewish landmarks (cemeteries in Písečná, Šafov and Mikulov, which also features a remarkable synagogue of the Lvov type), museums and chateaux in Bítov, Vranov nad Dyjí, Uherčice, Jaroslavice, Jevišovice, Mikulov, Lednice, Valtice and Břeclav; the watery landscape of the UNESCO-protected Lednice-Valtice Complex with a minaret, Janův Castle, the Reistna Colonnade and other buildings which make up the landscape; magical boat rides along the canals and arms of the Dyje; the unique atmosphere of the Novomlýnské Reservoir, which washes the white hills of the Pálava protected landscape area, and more. There is beauty wherever you look. On the other side, reverential places – the Čížov Visitor’s Centre with 350 metres of preserved Iron Curtain, including a guard tower; the Iron Curtain Museum in Valtice, the first of its kind in the country; the Czechoslovakian Fortifications Complex in Šatov with an infantry log cabin; the “Gate to Freedom” memorial near Mikulov dedicated to victims of the Iron Curtain; the educational Freedom Trail, a three-kilometre route around Mikulov honouring the hundreds of brave souls who died along the Iron Curtain, etc. An astonishing experience in places where no mere mortal dared to tread for decades.

www.ev13.eu; www.eurovelo13.cz; www.eurovelo13.com The Iron Curtain Museum: www.muzeumopony.cz Infantry Block in Šatov: www.technicalmuseum.cz/pamatky/areal-csopevneni-satov Trail of Freedom: www.kudyznudy.cz/aktivity-a-akce/aktivity/naucnastezka-stezka-svobody-v-mikulove.aspx Gate to Freedom: www.pametnimista.usd.cas.cz/mikulov-pamatnikobetem-zelezne-opony Podyjí National Park: www.nppodyji.cz National Park Šumava: www.npsumava.cz Karlovy Vary region: www.zivykraj.cz Pilsen region: www.turisturaj.cz South Bohemia region: www.jiznicechy.cz South Moravia region: www.jizni-morava.cz