Melnik Vinobrani

Around the September/October time of each year, the vineyards of the Czech Republic pull out their best and the country is filled to the brim with various wine festivals, or Vinobrani which celebrate the years wine harvest. Stalls line the streets, selling wine (of course) as well as grilled cheese, Prague Ham, Trdelnik and just about anything else considered Bohemian. Just about every town has its own Vinobrani and the Old Town square in Prague has had its going for about 4 solid weeks now! 




We had heard that a small town north of Prague, called Melnik, put on a fantastic Vinobrani each year and was well worth visiting. Melnik lies at the confluence of the rivers Vltava and the Labe and is known for its cultivation of grapevines and its annual celebratory grape harvest. The festival runs for one whole weekend in September, complete with carnival atmosphere, all the gingerbread you could possibly eat and the young Moravian wine, Burcak. Burcak tastes just like grape juice as it is only slightly fermented, fizzy and is sickly sweet. Don't be fooled though, it doesn't taste like an alcoholic beverage but it most certainly is, with its alcohol content being between 5-8%. There are apparent health benefits to this drink, but I really don't think people are too concerned with them. 
We arrived in Melnik around lunch time to find the festival still in the process of being set up. We decided to take a walk through the main town area and explore a little, which led us to a nice little cafe for a pot of tea. The festival covered the majority of the main town of Melnik with the 'side show alley' area taking up most of the space. We spent some time then walking through the festival, sampling some of the wine and some of the local food and enjoying the vibrant atmosphere. We had forgotten how much joy balloons and bumper cars can bring to people, even if I wasn't allowed to have either of them on the day. In half an hour we had seen everything in the festival and decided to head to the Melnik Church. When we thought to come back in a little later for another glass of Burcak, we were asked to pay 200Kc each ($11) for entry! Since we had already been in (for free) and seen everything we chose to go home. We like to look at the decision as being one of 'money conscious people' :)




Melnik has plenty more to offer than first meets the eye. It boasts one of the oldest Churches in Bohemia, the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, whose foundations date back to 1000! The Church, along with the Melnik Castle, overlook the confluence of the above mentioned rivers, with a spectacular view over the country side. 

A street in Melnik looking over to the Castle and the Church

Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul

Vltava and the Labe Rivers

Under the Church is the Melnik Charnel-house, containing the bones of between 10 000 and 15 000 people! These people were dug up from the Church graveyard to make more room during the plague of 1530-1531, while many others were added over the years. In the year 1787, all of the charnel-houses in Bohemia were ordered to be sealed for hygienic reasons. It was re-opened in the late 19th century and then again in the early 20th century for scientific reasons. The crypt is full to the brim with all kinds of human bones, arranged and ordered specifically. Jindrich Matiegka, an anthropologist and university professor began his study of bones and skulls in the Melnik charnel-house in the year 1913-14. With the help of two students, he studied and arranged the contents of the charnel-house. The charnel-house then became open to the public. While inside another group of people came in to have a look, only to finish up with one of them putting a bone in her mouth for a good 'ol facebook profile shot. We wanted to tell her how disrespectful she was, but we couldn't get past the fact that the person the bone belonged to probably died of the plague. We figured she would work it out for herself sooner or later.