Olomouc

Finished in 1754 at 35m, with eighteen figures set at different levels. The chapel inside stays locked and opens only a handful of days each year.

Rebuilt in the 1950s, so workers and farmers turn where saints once did. The mosaic shows chemists and athletes, which puts the period on display.

Six fountains carved with Roman gods stand scattered through the centre. Other towns pulled theirs down when piped water arrived; this one kept them.

Its spire passes 100m, second highest in the country. The crypt holds bishops' tombs alongside excavated romanesque foundations.

Medieval treasures and paintings fill the bishop's palace. One romanesque room keeps its original wall painting, which is why the light is kept dim.

Between the station and the centre a garden gathers rose varieties in beds. They come out together in June, and each variety carries its label.

A pilgrimage church on a hill twenty minutes out by bus. A zoo sits beside it, so pilgrimage and family outing share the same hilltop.

The fortification ring around the city became a park with paths running along it. One brick bastion survives and holds exhibitions inside.

The old reading room of a university founded in 1573, its timber shelving running to the ceiling. Students use it in term, so visits are limited to set hours.

An old tram squeezes past the square so tightly that a hand out of the window would nearly touch the wall. One ticket takes you around the centre and settles your bearings.

On 2 December 1848 the eighteen-year-old Franz Joseph I became emperor in this palace. Guided tours lead through its state rooms, including the one where he took the throne. Palace and cathedral stand together on one rise, an easy pairing.

Old town Gothic church housing a great organ built by Michael Engler in 1745. Among the biggest organs in Central Europe, it hosts an international organ festival each year. The tower gives a view straight down onto the Holy Trinity Column.

A castle the Teutonic Order rebuilt in Romantic neo-Gothic between 1895 and 1910. Its towers and battlements are so fairy-tale that several Czech fairy-tale films were shot here. It stands on a wooded hill northwest of Olomouc.

Castle crowning the town of Sternberk, north of Olomouc, given a Romantic makeover in the late 1800s. Tours show the interior, and a large Baroque church rises in the town below. Trains from Olomouc get there quickly, so half a day is enough.