St Thomas's Abbey, Brno

The geneticist and abbot Gregor Mendel was its most famous religious leader to date, who between 1856 and 1863 conducted his experiments on pea plants in the monastery garden.

The Augustinians arrived in Brno in 1346, and John Henry of Luxemburg (Jan Jindřich Lucemburský), Margrave of Moravia, began the construction of their original cloister in 1352.

The friars moved to suburban Staré Brno where they took over the abolished Cistercian convent and church.

Czech composer Pavel Křížkovský also took monastic vows at Brno, teaching liturgical music from 1848 until 1872, and from 1865 he formed an ongoing musical collaboration with the young (lay) composer Leoš Janáček who had come from his home in Hukvaldy and begun as a choirboy at the monastery.

Visits to the Museum include a walk in the garden in which Gregor Mendel carried out his famous experiments.