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One of the most beautiful towns in Moravia and historically an important location in the Czech Republic is Znojmo - a town whose foundations date back to the 11th century. For centuries Znojmo guarded the regions of southern Moravia, part of an elaborate chain of defending castles along the Dyje River and the border with Austrian lands, developing from a promontory fort to medieval stronghold and local seat of administration for the Premyslids - the first line of Czech kings. By the mid 1200s Znojmo was dominant, complementing neighbouring castles

The Czech Republic is a country with a fascinating industrial heritage all too often overshadowed by the Renaissance or the Baroque. Anyone who has ever travelled through Prague's formerly working-class districts of Karlin and Holesovice, for example, or has cycled in the north or east of the country, will have taken note of beautiful but crumbling 19th century factories, forgotten textile plants and old mills, falling apart girder by girder, brick by brick.

Hello and welcome to another edition of Spotlight; today we visit the sleepy town of Mnisek pod Brdy, south of Prague...the first recorded mention of Mnisek dates back to 1352. Lying on an important trade route, merchants used it as a stopover on their way further south. Today this charming little town attracts numerous visitors from all over the country and abroad, drawn by the thick forests that surround it and the Brdy Hills which rise up just behind the town.

Spotlight this week comes from Uherske Hradiste, a charming picturesque town in south-east Moravia. Like so many places in this part of the world, Uherske Hradiste has a rich and complex history. As tour guide Lenka Kornelova explains, the town was established nearly eight centuries ago in reaction to the turbulent events of that time and the city actually gets its name - meaning "Hungarian Fortress" - from this period.

In the very east of Bohemia, where the region borders with Moravia, you'll find a picturesque town called Litomysl. It emerged in the 13th century from an older fortified settlement on an important trade route which linked Bohemia and Moravia.

In this week's Spotlight we'll, for a change, travel outside the Czech Republic - yet in a sense still stay in it - because today we are visiting Prague House in Brussels.

In today's edition of Spotlight we visit the famous Pruhonice Park - a gorgeous destination for tourists that is not at all out of reach, a mere fifteen minute bus ride from Prague. If you love long romantic walks, soft landscapes full of leafy forests, quiet streams, and virgin meadows, Pruhonice is a must.

In this week's Spotlight we visit the recently rebuilt Ctenice Chateau, which has just been re-opened to the public. Located next to a pond, park, and forest on the outskirts of Prague, only a fifteen-minute bus-ride separates residents in the city from this beautiful recreational spot.

The beautiful Gothic Charles Bridge (called the Stone Bridge until 1870), built across the Vltava River to connect the Old Town to the Mala Strana (Lesser Town), is Prague's biggest tourist attraction and boasts a breathtaking view of Prague Castle. Some thirty statues from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries line the bridge, with each one of them having their own unique story to tell. But today's Spotlight is not about what's on the bridge but rather what's inside it - a message for the future citizens of the city of Prague.

Pernstejn Castle is some 35km north-west of the south Moravian city of Brno. Standing on a rocky hill above the villages of Pernstejn and Nedvedice, it overlooks the highlands of Bohemia and Moravia. It was built in the second half of the 13th century and is one of the best-preserved castles in the country today, attracting some 75,000 visitors a year.