Brno

Brno: history & character

Brno, the Czech Republic's second city and Moravia's historic capital, was founded in the 13th century at the confluence of the Svratka and Svitava rivers. A free royal city from 1243, it reached its peak under the Habsburgs, with Špilberk Castle turned into a fortress and the cathedral of St Peter and St Paul rising on the hill of Petrov. In the 20th century, Brno became a world architectural laboratory: Mies van der Rohe's Villa Tugendhat (1930, UNESCO 2001) and several dozen Functionalist villas were born here. For travellers with a dog, it's a Central European revelation: a medieval centre walkable end-to-end in 20 minutes, a pivnice (beer-hall) culture that welcomes dogs by default, 14 fenced municipal off-leash zones, and a year-round dog-swimming reservoir 25 min away by tram. Vienna is 1h35 by train, Prague 2h30 — Brno is the ideal base for exploring Central Europe on a budget with a dog.