NOV20

Classroom lesson · Český Krumlov · 🇨🇿 Czechia

Český Krumlov

A fairy-tale town curled inside a loop of river

Český Krumlov castle and town nestled inside a meander of the Vltava River

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Český Krumlov is a small town in the south of Czechia that looks almost too beautiful to be real. A huge castle stands on a rocky hill, and the old town sits inside a tight loop of the Vltava River, almost like an island. The whole place is so well preserved that it looks like a film set from a fairy tale.

Tell me more

The castle at Český Krumlov is the second-largest castle in Czechia, after Prague Castle. It has more than 40 buildings and five castle courtyards — enough to get completely lost in. The round tower at its centre, painted with colourful patterns, can be seen from all over the town.

From the top of the castle, you can look straight down into the loop of the river far below. The river is shallow and clear there, and in summer people float along it in rubber rings and canoes. It has been doing this loop for thousands of years.

The town below the castle has stayed almost unchanged for centuries. Its narrow cobbled streets, orange-tiled roofs and small squares have been protected so carefully that the United Nations listed it as a World Heritage Site — meaning it belongs, in a way, to all of humanity.

The castle also has a remarkable theatre that was built in the 1600s and still has all its original painted stage scenery. It is one of the best-preserved baroque theatres in Europe, and shows are still performed in it today.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01Why might we want to protect old buildings and towns so that they stay the same?
  2. 02If you had to choose one building in your town to protect forever, which would it be and why?
  3. 03What is a 'World Heritage Site'? Why might the United Nations make a list of special places?
Try this

Classroom activity

Look at a picture of Český Krumlov from above and trace the loop of the river on paper. Now draw a simple town plan inside the loop: where would you put the castle, the market square, the school and the harbour? Colour it in and label each area.

More about Czechia

Other things that make Czechia special

Want your class to meet Czechia?

Pick Czechiawhen you register and we’ll show you the time-zone feasibility.

Register your classroom