The district bounded by Kollárova Street and Svatopluk Čech Street (both named after prominent writers) is extraordinary at first glance. Even a complete layperson can recognise that the generously designed villas from the first quarter of the 20th century are exceptional buildings that still inspire admiration more than a hundred years later. The Art Nouveau and Neo-Renaissance villas belonged to prominent and wealthy citizens of Kroměříž. Two of the most notable are worth mentioning.
Mesenský Family House
The family of builders, father and son Mesenský, was a symbol of early 20th-century construction, and their house, built in two stages (1901–1906, 1911–1912), is proof of this. The combination of exposed brickwork with the use of an English-style bay window was an exceptional architectural achievement. Located at the end of the row of houses with an open view, the façade could be decorated with mosaic elements that still attract attention today.
Villa of Jan Holub
Jan Holub, General Director of the Archbishop’s Estates, commissioned the renowned Kroměříž construction company of Ladislav Mesenský to design his villa in 1926–1927. By then, the first villas designed by Mesenský, including his own family home, were already being built opposite the future Holub plot. The façade of the Holub Villa shows motifs from Czech Neo-Renaissance, an interest in folkloristic elements, and the fashionable Art Deco style.
Stolpersteine
Four brass cobblestones are located at the very beginning of Kollárova Street in front of house No. 528/1. They commemorate Dr. Felix Presser and his family. Felix Presser died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1940; his wife Bedřiška and sons Petr and Tomáš were murdered in 1942 in the Maly Trostenets extermination camp in Belarus. The Kroměříž Town Hall had them installed in April 2019.
