The heritage reserve is located in the historical centre of the town of Mikulov and protects the highly valuable town district that demonstrates the specific development of a liege town that has preserved the legacy of its architecture and art since the thirteenth century. This development took shape in the principal constituents of the Baroque town and the finishing touches were subsequently put in place in further stages of development. The reasons for the declaration of the historical centre of the town as a urban heritage reserve were the unique location of the town of Mikulov as one of the most interesting historical towns in Central Europe, the harmony between the surrounding countryside and the settlement, the extraordinary quality of its town planning and architecture, and the value of its historical buildings and sights.
The urban heritage reserve was declared on the basis of Ministry of Culture Edict no. 7646/82-VI/1 of 13 April 1982. The purpose of the declaration of the heritage reserve was to assure a higher category of protection for a defined area with valuable heritage. In addition to the protection of historical buildings, this also means assuring that other buildings in this area respect the historical character of the settlement and that all building activity aims to confirm this character or to rectify unsuitable alterations performed in the past. The subject of the protection provided includes the historical layout of the town and its corresponding spatial and material composition, town interiors including the surface of communications and subterranean spaces, the principal dominant features of the town from viewpoints both near and far, immovable cultural monuments, public greenery and other features that go towards creating the environment of the heritage reserve. The conditions relating to the protection of individual sites and buildings result from legal regulations, in particular Act 20/1987 Sb. on state heritage care, as amended.
The extent of the heritage reserve is defined by a boundary leading on the western side of the historical centre of the town along the street 22. dubna, turning to the north along the street U Staré brány and continuing in an easterly direction along the streets Brněnská and Česká, from which it turns to the south along the footpath copying the route of the canal on plot of land no. 1445 as far as the street Svobody. The boundary then crosses onto the street Purkyňova and follows it to the former Piarist monastery, leading around its site on plots nos. 413–418 as far as the street Piaristů, which it then follows back towards the north to the crossroads with the streets Komenského and 22. dubna, where it brings the circumference of the heritage reserve to a close.
The urban heritage reserve in Mikulov covers an area of around 19.95 hectares and contains around 244 buildings and sights (including buildings with and without street numbers; sites and amalgamated buildings are counted as a single building). The number of buildings with street numbers is 205. There are around 146 sites within the Mikulov urban heritage reserve that are cultural immovable monuments (of which 139 are buildings with street numbers).
A heritage protection zone was designated by ruling no. Kult 42/87-pam. of the Department of Culture at the Břeclav District National Committee on 1 September 1987 to protect the exterior appearance of the heritage reserve. Another 32 immovable cultural monuments (of which 22 with street numbers) are to be found in this zone. Another four monuments are situated in the remaining area of the town. A total of 182 cultural monuments are, therefore, recorded in Mikulov, of which 162 are buildings with street numbers.
