The net vaults
Southern Gothic soaring over a triple nave — grace in stone.
Martin Vavřík — Public domain · Vít Švajcr Dobré světlo.com — CC BY-SA 3.0 · donald judge — CC BY 2.0 · Donald Judge — CC BY 2.0
The town's second tower: Gothic St Vitus (finished 1439) answers the castle tower from the opposite bank — the famous Krumlov picture is both towers over the tiles, the church its slimmer, more graceful half. Inside is pure south-Bohemian Gothic: a triple nave under soaring net vaults, fifteenth-century murals surviving in original patches, and the marble tomb of Vilém of Rosenberg and his wife at the altar's heart — the red-rose family that made the town, at rest in its church. It crowns the lane climbing from the square, so the walking route meets it naturally — and its being free makes it the ideal noon pause: cool silence and stained glass amid the lanes' crowds and heat.
Southern Gothic soaring over a triple nave — grace in stone.
Original patches surviving five centuries — the church as record.
Kostelní, 381 01 Český Krumlov
The Regional MuseumThe town's memory in a 1652 Jesuit college: the Regional Museum at Horní street'2 minutes walk4.7
Egon Schiele Art CentrumThe small town's biggest surprise: a capital-grade contemporary art centre in an3 minutes walk4.5
Cesky Krumlov CastleCzechia's second-largest castle after Prague's — above a town of mere thousands:4 minutes walk4.7
Latrán QuarterThe castle's town beneath its walls: Latrán is the servants' and craftsmen's ban4 minutes walk4.7
The Minorite Monastery and its GardenA monastic complex in Český Krumlov's old town, founded in 1350 and holding thre4 minutes walk4.9Three golden angles: the wooden Barber's Bridge (the classic), the Seminary Garden terrace over the roofs, and the Cloak Bridge looking back. Sunset gilds the tiles, morning clears the river — the towers inseparable from any of them.
The same saint patrons all Bohemia: Prague's cathedral the great mother, this the south's daughter — and the Rosenbergs meant it as open answer: their town deserved a church rivalling the capital's. The shared name is the story of Bohemian ambition itself.