We were relaxing on New Year’s Day, surfing the internet and dreaming about faraway places, when we came across the stunning photographs of Krzysztof Browko. He is an award winning Polish photographer whose images of Southern Moravia (Jižní Morava) swept us away to a magical dream world painted in hues of greens and tans.
Krzysztof is 44 years old, and lives in Opole, although he comes from a completely different part of Poland. He makes his living as an IT specialist but it’s immediately clear to see that photography is his true passion.
When he captures the landscape with his camera, it is as though he is creating brushstrokes of light and shadow, texture and movement. We find his work absolutely beautiful and with his permission to use these lovely images, we invite you on a tour of the beautiful region of Southern Moravia.
Most people want to know exactly where these images were taken. You may have even seen ones like them before because they show up in Czech photography books and are all over Pinterest and other photography sites. We sent of several emails and did some of our own research and we came up with the following information for you. The beautiful green fields are located near Kyjov, and all around the villages of Šardice, Sobůlky, Stavěšice, Věteřov, Archlebov, Strážovice, Násedlovice, and Svatobořice-Mistřín. All of these villages are located in the Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. The area is generally referred to as Moravian Tuscany.
As you drive along the small roads, you’ll likely see several field pulpits and tiny chapels. In Czech, you’d ask for kaplička for the chapels and pulpits and boží muka for columns. They are sometimes on the wayside and sometimes by the road. Such tiny chapels are located in fields, on hills, at crossroads or other places. Workers can stop to pray in the chapels and if it a column shaped structure, it is possible that someone died there who should be be remembered. Sometimes they stand alone, but usually they are surrounded by memorable trees or one significant tree.
Google has the sweet little churches showing up in their searched as Little Santa Barbara chapel South Moravia or Chapel in the fields of South Moravia or Princess of the Fields Chapel, yet none of these are correct names for the small structures in the photos. They are not even on the map because they are on private property. It’s like someone wanting to geo-target the storage shed in your backyard. This means that you’ll just have to drive around the area and hope you get lucky by coming across one. We also heard that best time to take the photographs in the area is in the late spring, summer and early fall.
We’re grateful to Krzysztof for giving us a very personal view of what Southern Moravia looks like. Through the lens of this talented photographer, who tends to capture what many of us may otherwise miss, we’re introduced to even more of the beautiful landscapes of the Czech Republic.
Thank you Krzysztof, for allowing us to see through your eyes… (and for permission to share your beautiful vision.)