Most likely, if you've come to Telc you've come to see this: One giant triangular square surrounded by Renaissance style buildings in the middle of an otherwise sparsely populated region in southern Czech Republic. Why is it here? After reading several books on it and the historical information in town, it's still not entirely clear.

There was a castle here to start with and the square was a market town of sorts. The town burned down in the 15th century and the castle fell into disrepair. The castle was revived as a Chateau and the town was rebuilt in stone. The hunting grounds surrounding the castle became parkland of a sort and it appears nothing much has happened since. This picture features the trinity column (a necessary town square feature in Moravia) and a maypole.

Telc was presumably on some trading routes when it was a more important town. Now it's a bit off the road from Jihlava to Znojmo. If you're en route from Prague to Vienna (or vice versa) it's a relatively easy side trip.

When we told people in Prague we were thinking of visiting Telc they invariably told us that there was one big square and nothing else to see. Well - there is a museum in the chateau (center right in this picture) and an assortment of cafes and shops under the arcade which completely surrounds the square. Maybe they're right but it might actually be an interesting place to spend a night. The crowd level varies depending on how many tour buses are currently in town, but they don't seem to stay long at all.

The majority of the building tops in Telc's square are just facades but the variety of shapes and colors make for a striking effect.

A series of ponds was connected back in the Castle-period to form a moat of sorts. Later they became fishing ponds and they've basically turned the town square into a peninsula. These are immediately outside the walls around the town square. Walking the entire loop can be done easily in an hour which will also encompass almost the entire town outside of the square as well, there really isn't all that much of it.