Vsetin is a town in Zlín Region of the Czech
Republic. It has around 28,500 inhabitants and lies on the
Vsetínská Bečva river. The area around Vsetín, called Vsetínsko,
is spread out on the foothills of the Vsetín, Hostýn and
Vizovice Hills around the Bečva River. This area features the
remains of log houses and cultural monuments of significant
importance mainly in Vsetín itself. The folk culture has been
kept alive by Wallachian song and dance groups for many decades.
Originally a small town, Vsetín has become an important centre
of industrial, economic, cultural and sports life during the
last century. The landscape in valleys surrounding the Bečva
River in Moravia-Slovakia border line was not inhabited before
the Middle Ages. Man was discouraged from establishing permanent
farm settlements in this region by its hilly landscape, deep
forest valleys and forceful streams. Traces of settlement from
primeval times in Vsetín and the surrounding area are therefore
almost negligible.
The first historical records mentioning Vsetín originated in
documents dated 1297–1308 and relate to the very beginning of
settlement in this area. While records from 1297 mention the
Vsetín region only as an area by the Bečva river, the document
dated 1308 clearly describes it. In the aforesaid document a
little town named Setteinz is mentioned with a church, a mill
and the Freudsberg Castle and further colonization in the valley
around Rokytnice is described. The Templar Knights owned Vsetín
(Setteinz) at that time and rented it to Vok of Kravaře in 1308.
The name of Wssetin appeared in documents from 1396 while the
first entry of Vsetín Dominion in the provincial registry was
implemented as late as 1505. Vsetín was successively held by
other noble families, mainly of Cimburk (see the coat-of-arms in
the picture), Saint Jura and Pezinek, Kunštát, Šelmberk,
followed by nobility of Pernštejn, and others.
The process of colonization in the 13th and 14th centuries
created the structure of the settlement in the area, followed by
the "clearing" colonization from 16th century which lead to the
extension of farm land at the expense of forests. During the
same period, goat dairy-farming spread out from the south, along
the Carpathian mountains, as the Vlach (Romanian) migration
reached its peak. Though the Vlachs eventually lost their
language, being linguistically assimilated, this migration
contributed to the specific traditional culture and the
establishment of the historic name of the region, "Wallachia" -
see Moravian Wallachia. |