Discover Sušice: History, Chapel and Landscape

Sušice tells its local history across several periods: an estate in the village is mentioned as early as the founding charter of the Benedictine monastery in Olomouc; the Chapel of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary and a former school building add to this historical picture. Meadow sites and a forest provide their own landscape features.

Monastery history and historical ownership

In 1077, Otta, Prince of Olomouc, founded a Benedictine monastery in Olomouc on the site of an old Slavic hillfort. It was consecrated on February 3, 1078. The founder endowed the monastery with numerous villages, forests and estates, including an estate in Sušice. The founding charter that mentions this estate is considered the oldest surviving Moravian document. Thus, an early written reference to Sušice leads directly into the history of the monastery's founding.

Another history of ownership connects Sušice with Radslavice: Margrave Jošt bought both from Ješek Hromada and sold them to the Olomouc Chapter later that same year. Jan ze Sušice held the local fortress and the village of Sušice. These details shed light on different aspects of local history: ecclesiastical ownership and local rule, which included the village and fortress.

Chapel, feast days and community life

The Chapel of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary was built in 1935 in the centre of Sušice, on the site of a former bell tower. During Sušické hody, services are regularly held there on a Sunday around July 2 and on November 4. The exact dates may vary. If you would like to plan your trip around a service, check the specific date in advance.

The former General School building offers another perspective on how the village has changed. It was built in 1896 and is still used as a kindergarten. The history of the school and its present-day use come together in this building, adding a tangible change in community life to the older history of the monastery and property ownership.

A book on prehistoric to medieval settlement in the municipality also offers a way to explore Sušice's history. It brings together findings on more than 30,000 years of human activity and archaeological discoveries, and is available free of charge from the municipal office. If you plan to visit the municipal office specifically for this purpose, check in advance about visiting or collecting the book.

Landscape contrasts around Sušice

The meadow sites in the localities of Sušice–Pochylec and Kudlov have above-average biological value compared with the surrounding intensively farmed landscape. A forest stretches northeast of Sušice, with a small holiday settlement at its edge. A tourist listing last updated in 2006 identifies a small-leaved lime tree on the southwestern edge of the village as a memorial tree and estimates its age at about 400 years. The nature features are described at different scales: the meadows are assessed in relation to their agricultural surroundings, while the forest and lime tree are individual local landmarks.

When choosing accommodation, you can first decide whether you want to plan your trip around a specific service or focus on local history and landscape. The feast-day calendar makes the first option time-specific; the historical topics and landscape features mentioned here offer other starting points for planning your trip.

Discover more destinations: Čechy U Přerova, Milenov, Buk, Horní Újezd, Lipník Nad Bečvou, Čelechovice, Oprostovice, Teplice Nad Bečvou.

For the regional travel overview: Přerov District.