History of the Town

The first written record dates back to 1261 and was made in the founding deed of the Cistercian monastery, which was established by the royal castellan. The monastery was named after him as Smilheim or Rosa Mariae - Maria's Rose. Before this date Vizovice was a market village.

The town was owned in turn by many families such as the family of Boskovic, Říčanský, Doczy, Gollen, Blümegen and Stillfried. Vizovice was promoted to a townlet by the king Jiří z Poděbrad in 1466 and to a town by the emperor Maxmilián II in 1570.
The main source of income for the Vizovice gentry were two businesses. The brewery and distillery. In 1843 the brewery produced 2,500 buckets of beer and the distillery produced 800 buckets per year. A part of spirits was sold also to foreign merchants. It is where the future fame of the Vizovice Slivovitz (plum brandy) has its origins. The owners of the first distilleries were Jewish. The tradition of the Singer and Jelínek family is well known.

Since the 19th century Vizovice has been associated with the production and distribution of Slivovitz; nowadays the town is promoted by the slogan "Vizovice, the town of Slivovitz". At the beginning of the third millennium adjoining land was purchased and investments made into trademarks relating to the Vizovice Plum Harvest Festival, which has already become a tradition.