Šakvice
Location
The wine growing village of Šakvice is situated on the northern bank of the Nové Mlýny reservoirs about 15 km northeast of Mikulov.
History
The territory of Šakvice has been inhabited since the Neolitic Age, flourished in the Bronze Age, especially near the Štinkovka stream, and the largest number of archaeological finds dates from the fortified settlement era. Close to the Šakvice gravel pit part of a Slavic settlement from the 8th to 14th century was explored. Today’s village of Šakvice was first mentioned in 1371 under the name Číčovice. After 1414 it was part of the Mikulov estate, but after several changes of ownership it was attached to the Hodonín estate in the 16th century. According to some reports, the village was destroyed during the Hussite wars. After that German colonists settled there, but the village gradually adopted the Czech culture and formed kind of a Czech island in the middle of places occupied by Germans from around Hustopeče.
Sights
The most important monument is the church of St. Barbara with the Gothic core. After a fire in 1801 it was gradually rebuilt; the Gothic ribbed vault has been only preserved in the presbytery. The statue of St. Isidore and the sculptural group of St. John of Nepomuk are some other listed monuments.
Cultural Traditions
An important person in the history of the village was František Nosek (1840-1924), who bought a farmhouse in 1876, for 10 years worked as a mayor and for 12 years as a provincial deputy. He was also a significant local scientist in the sphere of history and geography, publishing his knowledge of the history of South Moravian villages, towns and cities in a number of specialist studies.
Nature
The village is situated on the hill above the north bank of the lower reservoir of the Nové Mlýny system, which inundated the floodplain of the Dyje river including the Šakvický rybník pond, which in the past was an interesting site of aquatic flora and fauna.
Holidays
South of the village on the banks of the Nové Mlýny reservoir is a camp used mainly by fishermen.