Nova Cerekev: Culture, Nature and a Special Cycling Route

Nová Cerekev brings together Jewish history, sacred architecture, technical monuments and protected landscapes within a compact thematic area. This gives you a variety of discoveries to choose from when planning your trip: you can explore historic buildings, get to know natural monuments or choose a designated mountain biking route through the landscape.

Railways, Landscapes and Distinctive Natural Monuments

Nová Cerekev railway station is located on railway line 224 between Tábor and Horní Cerekev; the line continues to Jihlava. The town’s technical heritage includes the railway and pumping-station complex, built in the 1880s to a design by architect Friedrich Setz. A water tower and a separate pumping station were part of this complex and supplied steam locomotives with water.

The municipality’s landscape includes the Rašelinná louka u Proseče-Obořiště natural monument. It is located in the Vysočina Region, in the Pelhřimov District, within the municipality of Nová Cerekev, in the cadastral areas of Částkovice and Myslov. The protected features there include spring fens, spring areas, wet meadows and marsh meadows with specially protected and characteristic species. Havlíčkův dub also grows in the listed park of Proseč-Obořiště Castle, a district of the municipality of Nová Cerekev. The oak is at least 300 years old and has a trunk circumference of 650 centimetres.

Synagogue, Cemetery and Baroque Church

The Nová Cerekev Synagogue was built in 1855 in the Neo-Romanesque style with Oriental elements and is considered the only surviving synagogue of its kind in Central Europe. The permanent exhibition “Architektura synagog v českých zemích” can be visited in the synagogue. Alongside the architecture, this also places the history of Jewish religious buildings at the centre of attention.

The old Jewish cemetery in Nová Cerekev was established before 1690; the oldest gravestone dates from 1692. Another historic destination is the Church of Saint Thomas Becket of Canterbury. It was built between 1750 and 1760 in the Baroque style and stands on the site of an earlier Gothic church, of which only the tower has survived.

Stanovice and the Route to the Synagogue

In the district of Stanovice in the municipality of Nová Cerekev, Pachtův špejchar currently houses an agricultural museum. The two-storey 16th-century building with sgraffito façades is listed as a cultural monument. Original farmsteads arranged around a circular village square have also been preserved in Stanovice.

For active exploration, the “Okolo mlýna k synagoze” route is an appealing option. It is suitable for mountain bikes on the terrain and leads through nature and small villages to the unique Jewish synagogue in Nová Cerekev. This makes it possible to combine landscape and culture in a single outing, without limiting the town’s historic attractions to individual buildings.

More Destinations for Orientation

You can also find Počátky, Pacov, Staré Bříště, Nová Buková, Proseč U Humpolce, Polesi, Vyklantice and Pošná.

For the higher-level travel overview: Pelhřimov District.