Discover Heřmanovice: Village Architecture, Church and Mining History

Anyone considering Heřmanovice as a travel destination will discover a place with unusually clear historical and landscape contrasts. Protected village architecture, the parish church of Saint Andrew, evidence of charcoal-making and mining history, and an important protected area for the Carpathian newt shape the character of the village. The Opavice also forms a local river axis, while a marked Czech-Polish border route is available for cycling trips. Depending on your interests, your stay can therefore focus on culture, nature or active pursuits.

Church and Protected Village Architecture

In the centre of Heřmanovice, the parish church of Saint Andrew stands on a slope. It was built in 1588, remodelled and extended in the Baroque style in 1739, and reconsecrated in 1766. Its furnishings include a late-Renaissance stone baptismal font with coloured reliefs of Saint Andrew and scenes from the life of Christ. A wall with an original gate surrounds the former cemetery. The historic setting is therefore clearly recognisable not only from the church building itself but also from the enclosure of the former cemetery.

The architectural character of Heřmanovice also includes protected village architecture. It consists of single-storey log houses of the East Sudeten type, with steep gabled roofs and stone bases. This gives visitors a specific architectural theme to explore: alongside the religious building, traditional rural construction forms a distinct part of the village’s history. The Chapel of Saint Jerome is also located above the limestone quarry. Following restoration, it was reconsecrated on 28 September 1997.

Charcoal Furnace and Mining at Příčný vrch

Vysoká pec Drakov preserves the remains of a charcoal furnace dating from 1807. The surviving stone structure measures 15 × 8 metres and has a barrel-vaulted end. Opposite it are the remains of a water channel.

Důl Žebračka is a mining heritage complex of spoil heaps, adits and shafts on the eastern slope of Příčný vrch, near the road to Zlaté Hory. Důl Karel, in turn, is a medieval mine on the plateau of Příčný vrch in the Hackelsberg mining district, within the cadastral areas of Heřmanovice and Horní Údolí. This mine includes a 60-metre-long adit, a hand-hewn 40-metre-long shaft, and two blind shafts with wooden pipework. Those interested in the development of mining will therefore find different forms and scales of mining heritage here.

Protected Area, River and Cycling Route

The Heřmanovice Site of Community Importance protects the Carpathian newt (Triturus montandoni) and covers 18.6922 hectares. It lies approximately 600 metres west of the northern edge of Heřmanovice and is one of the three most important occurrences of the Carpathian newt in the Sudeten region. Its approximate location and particular importance for the species give the village’s natural profile a clear focus.

The Opavice forms the axis of Heřmanovice and flows in a south-easterly direction. It rises above the northern end of the village, on the south-western slope of Příčný vrch, at an elevation of 850 metres. Its length within the cadastral area is 35.7 kilometres; the long-term discharge measured in Heřmanovice is 0.23 m³/s. For active days, the Czech-Polish border route Opavice is also among the marked cycling routes that can be used for bike trips around Heřmanovice. Alongside the church, architecture and mining, the river landscape and cycling can therefore also serve as independent travel interests.

For further orientation in this travel overview, you will also find Brantice, Mezina, Nové Heřminovy, Slezské Rudoltice, Široká Niva, Nova Plan, Moravskoslezský Kočov and Lichnov U Bruntálu.

For the overarching travel overview: Okres Bruntál.