The Jewish quarter here is quite small but uniform. It doesn't seem too different to many other older outskirts of Czech towns, but the subtle Jewish historical aspects are all well highlighted. The Rear Synagogue has been restored in the past ten years and has some nice decorations inside and interesting exhibitions on Jewish life and the Holocaust. This whole area was actually going to be razed under the communist government to build high rise "panalak" housing but local objections saw that this didn't happen.

Sv. Prokop Basilica (pictured) is on a hill opposite the Jewish quarter and has some reasonably interesting architectural features, however I think it was added more as a way of getting the site inscribed on the list than for being particularly "outstanding". That said the tour did give a chance to explore the impressive Romanesque vaulting of the crypt.

Although it glosses over many of the more tense parts of the history of the two communities the inclusion of both Jewish and Christian heritage is designed to show how the two communities lived (mostly) peacefully with each other from the Middle Ages up to the 1939.

Whilst this may not be the most impressive WHS it deserves a commendation for making the most out of its place on the list. There are sign posts everywhere, information is posted on all buildings of note in four languages and there are about five interactive talking message boards scattered around the site. Also the tourist office has produced a fantastic, if slightly optimistic, book on its potential as a base for exploring UNESCO sites in the area (Telc and Zelena Hora are only at most a 45 minute drive from here). Also it has an excellent tourist web site (www.trebic.cz/unesco). So it deserves top marks for embracing its status as a world heritage site.

I was only planning to stop here for about 45 minutes or so but there was enough here to keep me occupied for a few hours. It is easy to reach from Brno and there are direct trains to Prague.