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About the village of Modrá There are places on Earth which have been attracting people to live and build there houses on them since antiquity. This also applies to the small village of Modrá. According to legislation the village was founded as late as in 1786 and called Neudorf, but many findings prove that its history is much longer. Thanks to its location in the not-too-deep southern valley under the mountains of Chřiby the village of Modrá can now show off its interesting history. It lies 4 km from Staré Město and in the nearby neighborhood of Velehrad, which undoubtedly influenced quite a lot of the new history of Modrá. The oldest findings show that farmers were living here already in the Neolithic period about 7,000 years ago. Their manual skills are documented by pottery with lines and nail engravings. As time passed through the valley, also other cultures changed the structure of the countryside and left their trails. We can commonly find here stone axes and hoof wedges together with potsherds from late Stone Age (Neolithic 4,000 – 2,000 BC) documenting existence of long-term settlements. The chapel in the middle of the village At the altitude of 355 m about 4 km to the north of the village in the direction of Bunč you will find a huge stone called "King's table" (Králův stůl) situated just next to the main road. On the basis of archaeological research we can assume that its finishing in the shape of a urus and also the surrounding terrain modification date back to antiquity. We can speculate that it used to be one part of an antique sun calendar. Also the engravings on the stone are noticeable. They had already been described in the 17th century and they are strikingly similar to Celtic ruins. The stone was used later as a border stone, which is confirmed by inscriptions from 1228. According to legend, King Přemysl Otakar I rested on the stone. If we go back to the locality of Díly in the period after Jesus Christ's birth, we must mention also the finding of Roman carnelian gemma depicting Erós leaning on a cock. This stone was probably made sometime around the 2nd century, i.e. sometime during the period of the Roman Empire. (Gemma was later used by a Great Moravian jeweler in a jewel). The local valley was overcome by the influence of Germanic tribes in the 2nd – 3rd century, which is demonstrated especially by the findings in the locality of Orlová. The following era was influenced by a migration period and that is why next remarkable settlement in the locality of Díly can be traced to the arrival of Slavs in the 7th century. The finding of the church remains in 1911 was very important and it was followed by revisory research in 1953 when 37 graves were discovered among other things. On the basis of this research we could define an exact date of the church foundation, which dates back to the 8th and 9th century. This discovery was declared to be a national cultural monument. Considering the importance of the discovery (it is probably the oldest Christian stone building in the Czech and Slovak Republic) the village of Modrá implemented a hypothetical reconstruction of the original St. John's Church in 1998 – 2000. The building is used as the Temple of Understanding, it is an ecumenical and symbolic monument of the Great Moravia realm. The first written note about the church and the yard adjoining the church together with the fields dates to 1202, so this year can be considered as the time of the first written note about the build-up of the modern-day Modrá area. The last important remains from this settlement date back to the 12th century. It is in the interest of the village to map the place from an archaeological point of view and to build the original buildings in their original design. The remains of a Slavic settlement from the 9th century were found in the middle of the village (in the neighborhood of the old school). On the same spot pieces of utensils from the13th century were also found, which indicates that there was a little settlement or homestead. The next written note dates to the 16th century and it mentions a cattle yard. What is very interesting is a finding that documents the use of the lower wold of the brook Modrá for fishing (the finding of an oak pond stopper). We can assume that it is as old as the floodgate revealed during the construction of the convent pond, which was dated by dendrologists to year 1650. In the village there are also two stone crosses from the 19th century and near the entry to the village there is a statue of God's son from the 17th century. St. John's Column with its symbolic engravings and history of the village has been found near the main road since 1999. After 1990 some terrain changes were made in Modrá and its surroundings. The most important one was the construction and rebuilding of 8 ponds, which can be used for relaxation and fishing. Near the entry to the village you will find Hotel U Velehradu with the beginning of two educational paths – Fauna and Flora of Chřiby and Eucational Path Modřansko – which will lead you through local places of interest to a charming valley, a view tower, ponds and the King's Table. The area surrounding the village is also ideal for biking and for cross-country skiing in winter. Accommodation is also available in Myslivecká Hospoda. Modrá is known also for its excellent wine and its nice-smelling quality plum brandy. Many visitors will be attracted by the many folklore and social events. At the moment there are 630 inhabitants in Modrá and the village itself is surely worth visiting together with its picturesque surroundings, as well as the important archaeological site with the national cultural monument of Modrá in Díly. The village of Modrá won a golden ribbon in the competition for Village of the Year 1995 as the regional winner, a green ribbon in 1996 for its greenery and in 1998 a white ribbon for its cooperation with young people. It also won the white ribbon in the Village of the Year competition 2002. |
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| Design: Robert Číhal | © 2010 Archeoskanzen Modrá |
