Velké Losiny

also Losín

Czech Republic. A township in North Moravia, 10km from Šumperk.

The community is first mentioned in 1351, and at the end of the 15^th century passed into the ownership of the Žerotín family. Ever since the 16^th century a paper manufactory (handmade paper) has stood here. The originally Gothic fortified manor was rebuilt by the Žerotíns as a Renaissance château with an arcade, and at the end of the 17^th century this was extended in the Baroque style. Velké Losiny suffered not only from tragic witchcraft trials (stage-managed arraignments of those supposedly possessed by the devil, who were thus tortured and executed) but also from peasant unrest at the end of the 16^th century and during the 1620s. In addition to the château, the 1600-03 parish church with the Žerotín family vault also survives.

Comenius supposedly hid on the Žerotín estates in the Velké Losiny area after his escape from Fulnek in 1621.