Clyde

2.00 Malta - 29-Sep-19 -

I visited this WHS in Summer 2019. This WHS is made up of three locations: the Basilica of St Procopius, the Jewish Quarter and Sinagogue and the Jewish Cemetery which witness the coexistence of Christian and Jewish cultures through time.

We started exploring Trebic by first visiting the Basilica of St Procopius (guided tours take place practically on the hour; in Czech but a leaflet with info in English is given and photography was allowed during our visit). The Romanesque portal, the Romanesque crypt, the frescoes in the abbot's chapel (photo) and the 600 different stonemasons' marks on the church walls were the main highlights of the guided tour. The white-washed facade and castle remains contrast with the Romanesque rear part of the church, from where there is a nice view over Trebic. Next to the ticket booth for the basilica guided tour, there's the UNESCO WHS inscription plaque.

After the guided tour, we headed downhill through the recently restored gate to the Jewish quarter. Information boards entitled 'In the footprints of Abbots and Rabbis' next to the main points of interest describe the history and importance of this location and here there's a metal UNESCO plaque proudly displaying inscription. Apart from the Trebic sinagogue, don't miss the view over Trebic and the Jewish quarter from Masaryk's Viewpoint before heading uphill to the Jewish cemetery.

Trebic's location can be easily considered a WHS hotspot, nestled as it is between Telc, Brno and Zdar nad Sazavou but I'm glad I used Telc as my base even though it meant always driving an extra 35 km as there were much more dining possibilities after 7pm! I'm glad I visited this interesting town but I felt there are many other better examples in Europe and on the list which portray the coexistence between Christianity and Jewish cultures and possess OUV. Even though I enjoyed the three inscribed locations, none of them really stand out both individually or as a cultural ensemble.

Matejicek

3.50 Czechia - 24-Aug-19 -

I grew up in Jihlava town, which is some 30 km Nord-West from Třebíč. Thus, I have been there many times. There is a rivalry between citizens of Jihlava and Třebíč that leads to questions, which town has larger market-square or which one is more developed, older, more beautiful, etc. Regardless of what town would be a winner in this a bit absurd competition, I must admit that the ensemble of St Procopius basilica and the former Jewish quarter with the cemetery is kind of special and unique, or at least the best example of its kind.

The Jewish quarter is quite small and consists of rather ordinary houses from 18-19th Century, but it is one of the best-preserved and important examples of what used to be common in many towns of Central and Eastern Europe. Thus the inscription to the list is clearly justified.

As concerns the basilica, I can understand not very enthusiastic comments of visitors from Western Europe, but it is one of the oldest and finest really monumental structures in Czechia. Thus, it should be compared with churches from regions of much longer-lasting tradition with precaution. It was built around the half of 13th Century and combines together Romanesque and Gothic elements from various parts of the Western Medieval world (France, Germany, England, Italy), thus it may look eclectic. But it is better to call it bizarre as mentioned in the nomination text, because it combines the western elements in rather strange way. For example, the oldest part of the church – the crypt is built in formally “younger” almost pure Gothic style, but some upper parts of the church that were built later have Romanesque appearance. However, the most bizarre is the eight-ribbed vault in the east choir that is not easy to understand even from the technical point of view, because it is more suitable for domes in the inner parts of the disposition or crossing of naves. But in Třebíč, there is a row of three such vaults that required massive walls between them - PHOTO. In my home-town Jihlava, we have three churches from the same period (half of 13th Century) but all the churches are built in different styles, though St Procopius basilica stands out and is unique. Even another WHS - cathedral of Naumburg was built in the same period as St Procopius. In contrast to Třebíč where Gothic and Romanesque elements are blend together, Naumburg cathedral has distinct parts in pure Gothic style (Western Choir) but the rest of the church is pure late Romanesquish.

All in all, Třebíč is quite interesting WHS!

Christer Sundberg

Sweden - 14-Feb-14 -

This is a film I made about the town Trebic in the Czech Republic (Swedish voice-over with English subtitles).

John booth

New Zealand - 04-Dec-12 -

For me the newly restored, pastel coloured buildings of the Jewish Quarter seemed unreal. Looking at the unrestored buildings it was difficult to believe that they had ever had the clean lines and pristine appearance of the restored ones.

The ornate entrance to St Precopius' church was far more real.

Hubert

1.50 Austria - 08-Jun-12 -

The Jewish Quarter of Trebic got its inscription mainly because it is one of the most important and well-preserved Jewish quarters in Europe. The inclusion of the St Procopius Basilica illustrates the coexistence of Christian and Jewish cultures over the centuries. I agree with the previous reviewers that the inscription is justified and also that there is not much to see from a simple tourist point of view. A visit of the basilica is worthwhile though, in particular because of the beautiful Romanesque vault in the crypt. The "guided tour" turned out to be a two-sided text-sheet and we could visit the basilica accompanied by a guide. However, the guide answered all our questions and we could take photos, although that's actually not allowed.

The (formerly) Jewish Quarter is located at the foot of the basilica, on the river bank opposite to the Christian town centre. Most houses have been renovated and are well preserved, as the buildings at the entrance of the quarter, the former town hall and the two synagogues. Others, like the poor-house, are still in bad condition. In particular the Rear Synagogue is worth a visit, the thick walls and pillars are striking. The interior is decorated with wall paintings from the 18th Century. A special feature is the women's gallery in the upper part, that could only be reached by a staircase in an adjacent building.

For me, the best part of the site was the Jewish cemetery (photo). On the way uphill to the cemetery you have a beautiful view of the basilica. The older, rear section of the burial ground is located on a steep slope. The gravestones stand close together in the grass and between ivy. The oldest part of the cemetery is from the late 15th Century, the oldest gravestone with a legible inscription dates back to 1625. Beware that the cemetery is closed during the Sabbath (from Friday to Saturday evening).

Els Slots

2.50 The Netherlands - 26-Apr-07 -

On the last day of my stay in Moravia I had only a few hours left before my return trip to Amsterdam was due. Those hours proved to be well spent in Trebic, a small town about an hour west of Brno. Like Ian Cade (see review below) already noticed, the attractions of Trebic are very well signposted. Because of its compact size, it's also an easy place to go around on foot.

First I headed to the St. Procopius Basilica. The interior of the Basilica (and the nearby museum) was closed because it was Monday. So I just had a quick glance. The WHS nomination document supplied by the Czech authorities calls its architecture 'bizarre'. 'Eclectic' would be my description. The best overall view of the church can be had from the first bridge that connects the Trebic city center with the quarters on the north side of the river.

The (former) Jewish Quarter is located at the foot of the Basilica. The different parts of the Jewish community (synagogues, school, town hall, houses) all are clearly marked and have found new purposes. It's the relatively peaceful coexistence between Christians and Jews until WWII that has gotten this site a place on the WH list. In that way, it's more of a tribute to urban continuity than to a specific architecture of a certain era. Many of the buildings in this quarter have been (partly) rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries.

David Berlanda

2.50 Italy / Czech Republic - 02-Feb-06 -

I have been many times in Tøebíè, dominated by the big basilica of St. Procopius (13th century), constructed on a hill as the church of a benedictine convent reconstructed after the destruction in the actual Renaissance castle. The basilica is a large Romanesque and Gothic building, built in granite and rogh and irregular sandstones with triple choir, three naves, an elongated presbitery with an apse that has a beautiful window and a nice gallery, a porch with a beautiful portal, a crypt with rib vaults and a chapel with frescos. The Gothicizing Baroque front with plaster rendering reconstructed by František Maxmilián Kaňka is in the same style like the interior. The jewish quarter is situated between the river Jihlava and a hill and had only a separation until 1875, when the Jews moved out and the area remained in the hands of the poor. It has two beautiful main roads, on different levels, and small alleys. The small houses (Renaissance or Baroque but more frequently later), have often an alley going through them, a vaulted ground floor, one or two upper floors with wooden ceilings. They were organized in condominiums: there were several owners in one house and could change their part of the building; on the street level was often a shop or a workshop and the others were used for living and had few services. The houses were often linked so some of them have no entrances or have them on different levels. There are also two sinagogues (one is in baroque style), the town hall, the rabbi's house a school, the hospital, a poor people's home and a leather factory. On the hill is the vast jewish cemetery, divided in one part of the 15th and another of the 19th century, that contains about 4000 typical tombs with hebraic inscriptions and carvings and a ceremonial hall (1930).

I liked very much the basilica and the jewish quarter because of the beauty of the first and because I have never seen a jewish quarter as nice as this; however the state of preservation of the houses is often bad, because they are owned by poor people. It's worth to be visited if you are in Moravia (if you go there you can visit the basilica only with guided tours and you must leave the car out of the jewish quarter) and justifies the inscription also because the jewish quarter, apart from Israel, is the biggest in the world and because there aren't many monuments of this type on the WHL.

Photo: Tøebíè - Basilica of St. Procopius

Ian Cade

2.00 UK - 02-Sep-05 -

The Jewish quarter here is quite small but uniform. It doesn't seem too different to many other older outskirts of Czech towns, but the subtle Jewish historical aspects are all well highlighted. The Rear Synagogue has been restored in the past ten years and has some nice decorations inside and interesting exhibitions on Jewish life and the Holocaust. This whole area was actually going to be razed under the communist government to build high rise "panalak" housing but local objections saw that this didn't happen.

Sv. Prokop Basilica (pictured) is on a hill opposite the Jewish quarter and has some reasonably interesting architectural features, however I think it was added more as a way of getting the site inscribed on the list than for being particularly "outstanding". That said the tour did give a chance to explore the impressive Romanesque vaulting of the crypt.

Although it glosses over many of the more tense parts of the history of the two communities the inclusion of both Jewish and Christian heritage is designed to show how the two communities lived (mostly) peacefully with each other from the Middle Ages up to the 1939.

Whilst this may not be the most impressive WHS it deserves a commendation for making the most out of its place on the list. There are sign posts everywhere, information is posted on all buildings of note in four languages and there are about five interactive talking message boards scattered around the site. Also the tourist office has produced a fantastic, if slightly optimistic, book on its potential as a base for exploring UNESCO sites in the area (Telc and Zelena Hora are only at most a 45 minute drive from here). Also it has an excellent tourist web site (www.trebic.cz/unesco). So it deserves top marks for embracing its status as a world heritage site.

I was only planning to stop here for about 45 minutes or so but there was enough here to keep me occupied for a few hours. It is easy to reach from Brno and there are direct trains to Prague.

Michael Tmej

Austria - 01-May-05 -

Visiting the city of Trebic was an impressive experience. The Jewish quarter is partly renovated, and the sad feeling about the Holocaust also in this Community, with only a few survivors gives a deep impression of horrible times in a very nice surrounding. The Synagoge is in a very good condition and covers a small museum. Interesting also the Benedictine Monastery and Church of great importance close to the Jewish Quarter, a neighbourhood without problems over centuries, ended only by the Holocaust. Very good, multilingual infoboard at the city's main square. Nicely painted and decorated houses in the city centre. My visit was on August 14, 2003, and Trebic is very well signposted on the roads.

Klaus Freisinger

2.50 Austria - 01-May-05 -

Trebic is a pretty, but relatively little-known city west of Brno that hasn´t seen much tourism before it was added to the WH List in 2003. The reason for that is the Jewish Quarter, which is one of the most important (historically speaking, for obvious reasons) and best-preserved in Central Europe. It´s also the only WH site with a Jewish subject outside of Israel. That´s all important, and Trebic probably deserves its place on the list for that, but to be honest, there´s not that much to see there. The former ghetto is nice to walk through, but the Jewish traces are not really very obvious (but, as stated below, well signposted). That´s also because of obvious historical reasons, since the Jews didn´t want to attract too much attention, but for today´s visitor, it doesn´t hold much obvious appeal. What is definitely worth a visit is the peaceful Jewish cemetery a few hundred metres up the hill, where the tombstones in three languages tell the story of the coexistence between the religions better than the Jewish quarter below. The nearby St.Procopius´ Basilica is also included in the site, but it doesn´t really have anything to do with the Jewish aspect of it. It is a nice and interesting building, though.