South of Brno, on the Austrian border, the Czech town of Mikulov occupies a strategic location on the former trade route between Vienna and Brno.

The ruling Liechtensteiner were conscious of the economic contribution made by the town’s Jewish population and so for three centuries Mikulov became the centre of the Moravian Jews. The synagogue and around ninety buildings have been preserved and have become splendid cultural monuments.

An imposing Renaissance castle rises picturesquely above the town and this once royal castle guarded the country's border. In 1249, Přemysl Ottokar The Third assigned both town and castle to the Styrian family, Liechtenstein, in gratitude for their support.

In 1560, the Liechtensteiners sold everything to Hungarian aristocrats and in 1575 Emperor Maximilian The Second passed the town as a fiefdom to the Dietrichsteiner.

In the eighteenth century, three fires caused extensive damage but, situated between its vineyards, the Late Gothic appearance of this rebuilt town has managed to survive to the present day.