Santon

Locals mostly call it "Kopeček" (hillock). The name "Santon" was given to the hill by French soldiers themselves. It reminded them of a similar hill they encountered during the Egyptian campaign in 1798. French engineers artificially levelled the natural hill before the battle and fortified it with three lines of trenches as a firing position for 18 cannons. On the western side of the hill, they built a field kitchen but removed the original Marian chapel at the summit (already deconsecrated in 1776). Today, you can see a charming Neoclassical chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, built in 1832, with a Marian statue and memorial plaques featuring portraits of French generals Claparède and Valhubert, as well as Russian General Bagration. (For a replica of a French field cannon, you can visit the square in Tvarožná, where it was moved from Santon due to repeated attacks by vandals.)

At the foot of Santon, you can't miss a white marble cross with a roof and a garland of roses in memory of fallen soldiers. Along the road that leads from Tvarožná to Jiříkovice, look for the monument to Brigadier General Valhubert from the year 2000, who was fatally wounded here and died in Brno a few days later. Nearby, there is also Kosmák's cross, said to stand at the alleged mass grave site...

Tvarožná is crossed by a cycling route and an educational thematic trail related to the Battle of Austerlitz. What unique experiences await you here?  Annual re-enactment of battle scenes under Santon during the commemorative days of the Battle of the Three Emperors.