Jihlava

Jihlava sits at about 500 m, so it is cooler than Prague or Brno. Summer is mild and pleasant for walking, spring and autumn are fresh, and winter is cold with regular frost and some snow.

The biggest annual event is the Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival in late October. It is the largest festival of documentary film in Central and Eastern Europe, and it fills the city with screenings, talks and visitors, so book a room early for those dates.

Masaryk Square is the heart of the city and one of the largest historic squares in the Czech Republic. Look for the Baroque plague column and the two fountains of Neptune and Amphitrite from 1797.

Jihlava Underground is a network of cellars and passages about 25 km long, dug from the 14th century onward. Guided tours show medieval corridors and the famous "glowing corridor", whose walls give off a faint green light in the dark.

St. James Church is the city's main Gothic church from the 13th century and a national cultural monument. Climb its 63 m tower for the best view over the old town.

Gate of the Mother of God is the only one of the five medieval town gates still standing. It is now a lookout tower with a small exhibition on mining and the underground.

St. Ignatius Church is the early Baroque Jesuit church on the square, built in the 1680s next to the town hall.

Church of the Assumption is the old Minorite church near the gate, a Gothic building from the 13th century with a later Baroque interior.

Gustav Mahler House is the house where Gustav Mahler grew up. It is now a small museum about his childhood and family.

Gustav Mahler Park has a statue of the composer and the Synagogue Foundations, the remains of the synagogue burned by the Nazis in 1939.

Zoo Jihlava lies in a green valley a short walk from the centre. It keeps about 260 species and is known for its big cats, monkeys and reptiles, which makes it a good stop with children.

On a rainy day, visit Vysočina Museum Jihlava on the square for regional history and mining, or Vysočina Regional Gallery for Czech art.

A few things make a visit to Jihlava feel different from other Czech towns.

• See the glowing corridor underground. On a tour of the tunnels, you reach a short passage whose walls shine faintly green in the dark. Nobody has fully explained why.
• Watch the sky from the old town gate. The Jihlava Astronomical Society runs public observations from the gate tower on Monday evenings after dark.
• Join the documentary film festival. In late October, cinemas, the theatre and pop-up venues across the centre show documentary films from around the world.
• Follow Mahler's footsteps. Walk from his childhood house to the park named after him and the Jewish cemetery, where his parents are buried.
• Look for the miners' procession. The traditional miners' procession in historic costume remembers the silver rush that founded the city. Check the city's event calendar for the date.

Several of the best towns in the Highlands are less than an hour away, including three UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

• Roštejn Castle — about 25 minutes by car. A Gothic hunting castle in the forest with a tall tower and a view over the woods.
• Humpolec — about 25 minutes by car on the D1 motorway. A small town with a well-known brewery and the ruins of Orlík castle on a hill above it.
• Telč — about 35 minutes by car or around an hour by bus. A UNESCO town with a long square of Renaissance houses and a large chateau.
• Pelhřimov — about 35 minutes by car. A pretty historic town known for its museum of records and curiosities.
• Třebíč — about 40 minutes by car or around an hour by train. Its Jewish Quarter and the St Procopius Basilica are on the UNESCO list.
• Žďár nad Sázavou — about 45 minutes by car. The star-shaped Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená hora is a UNESCO site.

Jihlava is the capital of Vysočina Region, a region of hills, forests and small historic towns.

• For Renaissance architecture, stay a night in Telč.
• For Jewish heritage and a Romanesque basilica, head to Třebíč.
• To the north, Žďár nad Sázavou is the gateway to the Žďár Hills.
• To the west, Humpolec and Pelhřimov are easy stops on the way to or from Prague.

• By air: The nearest major airport is Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG), about 130 km away. From there, travel into Prague and continue by coach. Brno Airport (BRQ) is closer but has only limited seasonal flights, and Vienna Airport (VIE) is about 2.5–3 hours away by road.
• By bus: Long-distance coaches are the fastest public option. They link Jihlava with Prague in about 1.5–2 hours and with Brno in about 1.5 hours.
• By train: Jihlava has direct regional lines to Brno, Třebíč, Tábor and Havlíčkův Brod. Trains from Prague usually take longer than the bus and often need a change in Havlíčkův Brod. Check times and tickets at České dráhy or in the national journey planner IDOS.
• By car: The D1 motorway between Prague and Brno passes just north of the city (exit 112).

• Public transit: Buses and trolleybuses are run by the city company DPMJ. You can buy a ticket from the driver and pay by bank card in the vehicle, but it costs a little more than a ticket from a machine. Most yellow ticket machines take only coins.
• Taxi: Local taxi companies operate; ask your hotel or call ahead.
• On foot: The historic centre is compact and easy to walk. Most sights, the zoo and the Mahler sites are within 15 minutes of the square.
• Cycling: Possible, but the city is hilly and traffic outside the centre is busy.

• Is a car worth it?: Not for the city itself, which is best on foot. A car is useful for exploring the Highlands, where some castles and villages have few buses.
• Parking: The old town has paid parking zones, and space around the square is limited. A practical option is to park at the edge of the centre, for example at the park-and-ride on Žižkova street, and walk in.
• Motorway: The D1 is often busy and has frequent roadworks, so allow extra time between Prague and Brno.

Jihlava has its own brewery, Pivovar Jihlava, whose Ježek beer is named after the hedgehog on the city's coat of arms. Order it in local pubs to taste something you will not find elsewhere. The food of the Highlands is simple and filling, with potatoes, mushrooms, game and fish from the local ponds.

The best area to eat is around the square and in the streets leading down to the town gate, where cafés and restaurants sit side by side.

Jihlava is a safe city with low crime. Normal care with bags and wallets is enough in busy places such as the square, the bus station and the festival crowds.

In winter, pavements in the old town can be icy, and the streets on the hill around the square are steep. Wear shoes with a good grip. The tunnels of the underground are cool all year, so bring a light jacket for the tour.

Silver made Jihlava. Mining began here around 1234, and a royal mining town grew up quickly. It was the first place in Central Europe where mining law was written down, and its rules were copied across the region. In 1270, King Ottokar II gave the town its building plan, with a grid of streets around the huge square you see today. The cellars dug below the houses in the following centuries grew into Jihlava Underground.

On 5 July 1436, a peace agreement with the Hussites was proclaimed on the square, and Emperor Sigismund was accepted as King of Bohemia. After a great fire in 1523 and heavy damage by Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War, the town was rebuilt in Renaissance and Baroque style. It later became one of the largest cloth-making centres of the Austrian Empire.

For centuries, most people in Jihlava spoke German, and the town had a large Jewish community. The synagogue was burned in 1939, and most of the Jewish residents were killed in the Holocaust. The German-speaking population was expelled after 1945. Today Gustav Mahler Park and Jewish Cemetery keep the memory of this mixed past.

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