Štramberk is a small, charming town in Moravia, dominated by the Gothic Truba Tower and castle ruins. The historic urban layout has been preserved here and a lot of historic architecture, including wooden Wallachian houses.
The town is known for the so-called "Štramberk ears", i.e. soft gingerbread cookies rolled up in the shape of ears. Baking traditions date back to the Middle Ages. According to the legends, during one of the Tatar invasions in the captured camp, sacks with cut off ears of the killed inhabitants of the area were found. They were to be sent back to the Khan as proof of victory. Hence the tradition of making these original pastries.
On the hill above the town rises its greatest attraction, Stramberk Castle. Only ruins hidden in the forest are left of it, but above them rises the former defensive tower, Truba. At the beginning of the 20th century it was rebuilt into a lookout tower, the terrace of which is located on a wooden porch surrounding the top of the building.
On the slope of the Castle Hill there is a sloping market square surrounded by Baroque and Classicist tenement houses. In the streets diverging from it, you can see one of the best-preserved complexes of wooden Wallachian buildings in the Czech Republic. It is comparable only with Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. There are over 80 wooden, log huts covered with shingles, most of which are still inhabited.
In the vicinity of Štramberk, there is the famous Sipka Cave, where the traces of the Neanderthal man were discovered. Items found in the cave can be viewed in the Museum in Štramberk.
