Slezské Pavlovice

Slezské Pavlovice (Deutsch Paulowitz) is a village and municipality in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Slezské Pavlovice municipality is the northernmost village of the Moravian–Silesian Region, the village is bounded on three sides by Poland. The first written mention of the municipality is from 1267 although the original settlement dates back to the Bronze Age. Currently it has a population of 191.

The dominant feature of the village is a chateau, built on a place of a former fortress in the second half of the 14th century. In the middle of the 15th century during the reign of the Sup family of Fulštejn the fortress was rebuilt into a renaissance chateau. The present baroque appearance is the result of Jean of Mattencloit from the middle of the 18th century. During the interwar period the chateau was given to the Just family who owned it until 1945. After the war the chateau became the state property as currently it is owned by a private owner. In 1961 the chateau was reconstructed and have gained the present appearance of the simple one storey building on a rectangular plan with a mansard roof and stucco facade.

An important monument of the village is the pseudo gothic filial Church of St. Andrew from the second half of the 19th century and a baroque statue of Jan Nepomucký from the second half of the 18st century situated in the centre of the municipality. An interesting monument is the so called „Swedish Column“ from 1633 which was built by the former owner of Slezské Pavlovice Johann Gottfried Kotulinski as a thanksgiving for Swedish troops withdrawal. Originally was the five metres high triangular obelisk erected by the northern borders of Slezské Pavlovice but during the borders modification with Poland in 1959 the column found itself standing on the Polish territory from which is now easily accessible.

In the municipality district is located „Jungle“ Natural Reserve, which protects the remains of flood plain forest with large old oaks, willows and alders as the wold by the confluence of the Prudnik and Osoblaha rivers was once rich in. Last century in the 1970s there was made some land improvements around the reserve but the Jungle remained well-preserved and became a memory of once unspoiled nature. The reserve became a sanctuary for several protected species of amphibians and reptiles. The wold vegetation also protects Natural Reserve of Velký Pavlovický rybník behind the Prudnik river on the right side of the road towards Hlinka