Opatov: Evangelical Church, Cultural Monuments and Nature Reserve

Opatov combines an Evangelical church with a documented building history, historic traces in Polánka and the surrounding area, and the Prameniště Jankovského potoka Nature Reserve. The history of the village dates back to the 13th century, when Opatov was founded through the colonization efforts of Želiv Monastery. The village is located near the road connecting Jihlava with Pelhřimov. The church, memorial sites and natural landscape thus showcase different facets of Opatov.

Natural Landscape and Parts of Opatov

The Prameniště Jankovského potoka Nature Reserve also extends into the cadastral territory of Opatov. The Jankovský potok forms the western boundary of this cadastral territory.

Polánka, a part of Opatov, is home to a memorial lime tree and a historic mill. Both sites add local commemorative and everyday history to the picture of the municipality. If, when choosing your accommodation, you are not looking only for a single highlight but want to discover different facets of a place, these themes provide additional points of reference for planning your own trip.

The Church and Cemetery as Historical Highlights

The Evangelical Church of Opatov is a pseudo-Romanesque building designed by Josef Bláha from Kostelec. It was built between 1864 and 1868 and opened on November 1, 1868. The interior is also described separately: it has a simple, airy feel and is brightly illuminated by tall windows. The church can accommodate up to 170 people.

The Evangelical Cemetery of Opatov is another feature reflecting the village’s history. It dates from 1870 and contains several gravestones from the last quarter of the 19th century. Together with the church, this part of the village makes the development of Opatov in the 19th century tangible through specific buildings and memorial markers, without limiting you to a mere year in history.

Cultural Monuments in the Surrounding Area

The surrounding area of Opatov is home to two cultural monuments with distinct characteristics. Two kilometres northeast of the village, on the road to Zbilidy, stands a stone memorial cross listed as immovable cultural monument No. 5417. Another historical highlight is the remains of silver mines located one kilometre northeast of the village in Hovorkův les forest. They are listed as immovable cultural monument No. 5051.

Accommodation and Further Comparisons with Nearby Places

When choosing a hotel in Opatov, you can decide in advance what you want your trip to focus on: local history, the cultural monuments in the surrounding area or the natural landscape along the Jankovský potok. The proximity to the road connecting Jihlava with Pelhřimov is the clearly described geographical location reference. For comparison with other places, you can consider Jamné, Kozlov, Batelov, Cerekvička, Puklice, Hojkov, Kamenice and Větrný Jeníkov.

For the higher-level travel overview: Jihlava District.