Valašské Museum in Rožnov Showcases Century-Old Open-Air Heritage

The Valašské Museum in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, founded in 1925 by brothers Alois and Bohumír Jaroň and the local museum society, relocated threatened timber houses into a spa park, creating the core of today’s open‑air museum. Spanning over fifty hectares, the complex includes the Wooden Town, Valašská Dědina, Mill Valley and two Art Nouveau stations on the Pustevny ridge, together forming the largest skanzen in the Czech Republic and one of the oldest in Central Europe.

The site preserves more than seventy historic buildings that illustrate rural life from the mid‑19th to early‑20th centuries, alongside functional water‑mill machinery, a sawmill, forge and oil press. A notable feature is the Valašský Slavín, a village cemetery where celebrated locals such as four‑time Olympic champion Emil Zátopek and ski jumper Jiří Raška are interred.