Uničov is one of the seven Moravian royal towns, located at the crossing of Haná, Hrubý and Nízký Jeseník. The core of the area is the Oskava river basin. To the south, the region is open to the river Moravia, from which it is separated by the floodplain forest Doubrava. On the other sides it is surrounded by the foothills of the Jeseníky Mountains. Numerous archeological finds testify to the ancient settlement, such as the discovery of a prehistoric ironworks near Želechovice.
Uničov was founded around 1213 by the Moravian margrave Vladislav Jindřich.