Czechia · CZ
Sázava
Sázava is a small highland village of around six hundred people tucked along the upper course of the river that gives it its name, in the Žďár nad Sázavou District of the Vysočina Region. First recorded in 1406 and sitting at about 507 metres on the rolling ridge of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, it is a quietly atmospheric place rather than a grand stop on the tourist trail — the kind of village you visit for its folk monuments, its valley views and its convenient position beside a UNESCO-listed wonder. What gives Sázava its character is a blend of local history and easy access to the surrounding region: a centuries-old Evangelical parish set in its own cemetery, a scatter of granite folk shrines on the village green, a heritage railway that chugs summer visitors through the wooded upper Sázava valley, and a tall look-out tower on a neighbouring hill. Within a few kilometres lie the monastery-château of Žďár nad Sázavou and Jan Blažej Santini's star-shaped Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk on Zelená hora.