The village of Hukvaldy is situated in the west part of the district of Frýdek-Místek, between the district town and Příbor, near the international road link between Vienna and Krakow (E 462). The best access road for Hukvaldy visitors is to turn off this international motorway at Rychaltice. The village extends southwards, vertically to this international motorway, mainly in the valley of the Ondřejnice River, between Sklenovské Hills (424 above sea level) - on the west side - and Přední Babí hora (548 m) and Zadní Babí hora (586 m) - on the east side. In the south the natural border is formed by Hukvaldy Castle (480 m) and Kazničov Hill (601 m).

The village covers the area of 2,037 hectares and it had 1,905 inhabitants (on 1 January 2006). In the Moravian Walachia - Lašsko boundary, it is the last village that belongs purely to Lašsko. Its dominant is one of the largest castles in Moravia, which was founded in the first half of the 13th century, under the rule of King Přemysl Otakar I (1197-1230). The village was made famous by the composer Leoš Janáček (1854-1928). In the last year of his life, he thus spoke about his place of birth (in the article "Moje Lašsko - My Lašsko) ": "Beautiful landscape, quiet people, soft vernacular, as if butter were being cut. " So much for the landscape around Hukvaldy, which forms the foothills of Beskydy - the westernmost part of the Carpathian Mountains.

Hukvaldy enjoys great popularity with the visitors because it offers the possibility of seeing large feudal castle ruins and of going for walks in a beautiful game preserve. The lovers of Leoš Janáček´s musical work can visit Leoš Janáček´s Memorial or his parental home, where Leoš Janáček´s Commemorative Hall and a gallery were opened on 2 July 2004. The gallery offers various exhibitions; in July 2005 an information centre was opened in the building. The visitors of Hukvaldy can visit the International Music Festival Janáček´s Hukvaldy in July and August and other interesting events organized mainly at the castle, for example the Medieval Knight Festival, Witches´ Gathering in April, the event of Ghosts at the Castle last weekend in August, the traditional fairs on St. Andrew´s Day, etc. Hukvaldy offers the possibility of seeing charming places of this part of Lašsko, where almost with each step the visitor can meet symbols evoking memories of the mastery of the music composer Leoš Janáček. The vast game preserve round the castle tempts the visitors to see it and to relax in it most in spring, when the blossoms of the chestnut trees brighten up the crowns of the trees, and then in autumn, when the fading leaves are ablaze with a bright palette of colours and the ripe fruit of the chestnut trees falls down to the ground.

It was from Hukvaldy that Janáček drew motifs for his musical works, but also for his sketches; it was here that he took down little tunes of speech and folk songs. The atmosphere of the region was captured in his choir compositions written on Petr Bezruč´s poems.

Hukvaldy has been rendered also in literature: Růžena Svobodová and her novel Black Huntsmen, Bohumil Četyna - Once at Solstice, Jan Václav Sládek - short stories Hukvaldy Miniatures, Hukvaldy Silhouettes and sketches Andalusia in a Paradisiacal Garden and Hukvaldy Wells, last but not least the sketches written about Hukvaldy by Leoš Janáček. Hukvaldy has also been captured in photographs (Josef Sudek - Hukvaldy) and in painting (Jan Václav Sládek - Hukvaldy, a local native, a graduate of the College of Applied Arts in Prague). Nowadays, a local native, the artist Antonín Kroča (born 1947), creates here; he has even his own gallery in the village. It is situated in the former Rychaltice school (with an inscription "Mládeži - To the youth"), on the left side of the road from Hukvaldy to Ostrava, at the boundary of local parts of Dolní Sklenov and Rychaltice (1.5 km from the centre of Hukvaldy). It is also from here, from the Hukvaldy game reserve, that Vítězslav Jurečka, who was born in Dolní Sklenov and lives in Rychaltice, draws topics for his artistic photography.

INFORMATION: http://www.hukvaldy.eu