Líšnice

Líšnice is a small municipality in the Olomouc Region, in the Šumperk district, lying southwest of Mohelnice among the low hills of eastern Moravia. Three different Czech villages share this name — in the Central Bohemian, Olomouc, and Pardubice regions — but this is the one that includes the hamlet of Vyšehorky, notable for an unusually shaped historic layout and a church with a dramatic past.

What are the two parts of the municipality?

The municipality is made up of Líšnice proper and Vyšehorky, a settlement sitting at roughly 375 metres above sea level. Until 1949 Vyšehorky was called Vyšehoř; the name was changed to avoid confusion with another village, Vyšehoří, near Bludov. Between 1985 and 1990 both settlements were administratively absorbed into neighbouring Mohelnice. After regaining independence in 1990, they have operated as a single municipality known by the double name Líšnice-Vyšehorky.

What makes Vyšehorky stand out?

A circular village plan that survived the centuries

Vyšehorky has preserved a layout that is genuinely rare in Moravia: an okrouhlice, a round-plan settlement pattern inherited from early Slavic colonisation, where farmhouses ring a circular common. Very few villages in the region kept this shape intact, which alone makes a short stop worthwhile even before considering the church at its centre.

The Church of All Saints — rebuilt after a lightning strike

At the heart of Vyšehorky stands the Church of All Saints, a Romanesque-Gothic building begun in the second half of the 13th century. In the 1340s it was extended with a side aisle and a tower topped by a distinctive overhanging timber structure known locally as a podsebití. On 8 July 1957 the church was struck by lightning; the fire destroyed the roof, the timber belfry, and nearly all of the interior fittings. A thorough reconstruction was only carried out in 1994, and the church was reconsecrated three years later, in 1997. Despite this eventful history, its medieval character survived largely untouched by later alterations.

How did Líšnice itself develop?

The first written record of Líšnice dates to 1348, when Boček of Kunštát is named as the village's owner. The settlement received market-town privileges in 1418. Its population fell steadily for well over a century, from 696 inhabitants in 1869 to just 276 in 1991, before recovering somewhat — the municipality now counts roughly 425 residents across an area of under 10 square kilometres. Northwest of the village lies the Lower Líšnice fishpond, one of several ponds created along a small stream running through the area.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same Líšnice as other villages of that name in the Czech Republic? No. Three separate municipalities share the name Líšnice. This one sits in the Olomouc Region's Šumperk district and includes the hamlet of Vyšehorky.

What is the main thing to see here? The round village plan of Vyšehorky itself, together with the Church of All Saints standing at its centre, which still shows traces of its 14th-century extension.

How many people live in the municipality? Around 425, according to 2025 figures, after a long population decline that began in the 19th century.

Can the church in Vyšehorky be visited? The church was extensively rebuilt after the 1957 lightning fire and reconsecrated in 1997; it retains its original medieval architectural character.