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Veverská Bítýška township lies at the confluence of the Svratka River and “Bílý potok”, about 25 km northwest of Brno. Offering picturesque surroundings and convenient location near the Brno Dam, it is a small, quiet town with a population of 3,000 inhabitants. Thanks to these characteristics, it has become the most important recreational area of the region. It is popular with tourists who like to walk around the Brno Dam and there are several marked trails that start there. It is also the end station for steamboats which take visitors on tours around the dam and run seasonally every year from April to October.
In Veverská Bítýška, many cultural and natural monuments will catch the attention of visitors. Veveří Castle situated not far from the town and its adjacent Mother of God Chapel are among the most significant landmarks of the area. The “Bílý potok Natural Park” stretches westwards from Veverská Bítýška. Besides the unforgettable hiking and cycling, it offers pristine nature containing many rare plants and animal species. Inhabitants of larger cities, particularly Brno, come to Veverská Bítýška to seek the peace and tranquility that are offered by a wide range of recreational houses situated mainly along the banks of the Svratka River. Unlike other villages, Veverská Bítýška is quite well connected with neighboring towns and cities via an integrated bus network.
On 24th September 2004, Veverská Bítýška regained the historic status of a township.
The “Na Městečku” Square is dominated by the Church of St. Jacob built between 1771 and 1782 to replace an inadequate church which dated back to the 15th century. The construction project was started by a local parson Václav Josef Wolf and finished by his successor Tomáš František Kubečka. This 29-meter-long and 12-meter-wide Baroque building boasts eight painted windows featuring Czech patrons. The current dome-shaped tower replaced the original pyramid-shaped one and four bells from the 17th century can be seen in the tower: Jacob, Maria, the noon bell and the dead bell.
The square is adorned with a cultural monument – a statue of St. Jan Nepomuk which sits behind a small fence in front of the church. The statue stands on a concave pedestal with angular corners, composed of three lobes. The second part of the pedestal has the shape of a tambour and ends with a profiled molding. The statue is situated on top of it, on a square socle. The life size saint wears a canon robe and a biretta. His right hand rests on his chest and his left arm is bent at the elbow toward his left shoulder. His slightly bowed head is turned towards his right shoulder.
A school building also stands on the square. It is a three-floor building with a socle extending around it and it has concave quoins. The front is accentuated by a buttress ending with a triangular roof dormer with a round window. The entrance door carries a three-dimensional sign SCHOOL BUILDING. Next to the entrance, a commemorative plaque has been placed featuring an embossed head of a soldier and the following inscription in capital letters: Between 1891 and 1903, Bonifác Císař went to this school. During the first World War, this man was a volunteer soldier in the French Army and from 1914 he fought for France and for the liberation of his homeland. He was killed defending Verdun, on 20th August 1917. Replacing the original town hall that caught fire and burnt down, the school building was solemnly opened on 16th September 1911.
Not far from the square you will find a terraced one-floor building. It is the parsonage, with a rectangular floor plan, five windows on the ground floor and seven on the first floor. The facade is plain, divided into sections by piedroits. The door is asymmetrically placed between the third and fourth window. It is rectangular with a rising door case, decorated with a hood mold and an embossement of the Virgin Mary. The building is topped with a mansard roof.
Approximately 150 meters away from Veverská Bítýška, in a field to the left of the road (when heading to Hvozdec), stands a stone with a cross and an axe carved in it. It is a peace stone carved in grey hone. It is 107 cm high, 47 cm wide and 15 cm thick. With the year of 1559 carved in it, its origin is unknown.
To the left of the road running to Bystrc, behind a branch road to Mečkov, you will notice a wayside shrine standing on a square socle. It is decorated with pilasters and a rich cap carrying a rising mold atop of it.
The shrine incorporates several semicircle niches. Mural paintings of Virgin Mary of Veveří, St. Wenceslas, St. Ludmila and St. Jan of Nepomuk used to decorate the niches. The pyramid roof above the mold is topped with a two-bar iron cross.
After a 200-meter walk up the Bílý potok, you can visit a mill that is listed among the local cultural landmarks. Its official name is “Muzeum – Jarošův mlýn” (Jaroš's Mill Museum). It offers a unique opportunity to see areas where visitors are usually not allowed when a mill is working due to sanitary and safety reasons. You will learn how the base material (grain) is changed into finely ground flour, semi-coarse or coarsely ground flour, fine semolina flour and semolina flour. You will also learn how people used to live in the mill, you will have a chance to see the whole building, manufacturing equipment, the water flume and the water gate. Built before the Second World War, the mill was listed as a cultural landmark by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. A tour of the mill will take you back in the good old days when craftsmen were highly esteemed and well paid.
