Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and a very important center of the mining industry, mainly hard coal mining. The city with a picturesque market square also boasts interesting technical monuments and a rich night life.
The area where Ostrava is today was already inhabited in Roman times and there was an amber trail running through it to the south of Europe. The first castles were built here in the early Middle Ages, and in the thirteenth century two cities developed, Silesia and Moravian Ostrava. They functioned side by side until the interwar period, when together with the surrounding villages they were combined into one city. For this reason, there are two markets in Ostrava, which often causes confusion for tourists coming to the city.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the city underwent an industrial revolution, and a large part of its former buildings were replaced by classicist and eclectic tenement houses. Most old buildings have been preserved at T. Masaryk Square, which is the former square of Moravian Ostrava. In this part of the city there is also a heavily rebuilt castle, in which the museum currently operates. A big attraction of the former Ostrava of Silesia is the modernist town hall from the interwar period with an observation tower from which you can admire the panorama of the city and the Beskids.
Although coal mines are still thriving in Ostrava, some of them, especially the oldest ones, were closed at the end of the 20th century. In 2002, the Hlubina mine and the nearby Witkowice steelworks were recognized as monuments and made available to tourists. The Ostravar Brewery is also a tourist attraction, where you can taste different types of beer.
