Photo Trip: Mountains of South Bohemia

in #travel7 years ago (edited)

europe-map.png

My today’s trip story is about South Bohemia mountains called Novohradské Hory in Czech and Freiwald ("Free Forest") in German. This area is a perfect destination for the lovers of Nordic walking, cycling and classic walking as it offers many beautiful, diverse and well marked trails. Last weekend we went there for a walk with three of my sons and am happy to share with you the photos and stories from this wonderful place.

01-hojna-voda.jpg
Sungate Monument with Meditation Bell at Hojná Voda

We've started our walk at this unusual bell monument called Sungate located at a small village on the Northern slope of Kraví (“Cow’s”) mountain.

The village's current Czech name, Hojná Voda, is akin to its old German name, Heilbrunn, and originally means "Healing Water". This tiny mountain village currently having only a few dozens of dwellers is about 500 years old. Not so long ago, in 1938, it was counting more than 600 inhabitants, mostly of German origin. After the end of World War II the German population was evicted from the borderland by the Communist government and many of their houses were demolished. After that and until the Czech Velvet Revolution of 1989 this area was strictly guarded and forbidden for tourists because it’s where the Iron Curtain ran.

The bell you see on the photo is called Meditation Bell. It was cast in 2012 by a renowned Bavarian bell master Rudolf Perner in the memory of reconciliation between Czech and German peoples.

02-boys-forest.jpg
On the path to Kraví Mountain

To get to the top of Kraví Mountain which is 953 meters above sea level we’ve took an old hunters pathway built in 16th century. Some of its stones are marked with enigmatic crosses with numbers and no one could tell their meaning.

05-kravi-hora.jpg
A view to the north from Kraví Mountain

On the top of the Kraví mountain there's a lookout tower with astonishing views. It was built after the Velvet Revolution in place of a Soviet era military tower guarding the border.

06-kravi-hora.jpg
A view to the west from Kraví Mountain

10-boys-kravi-hora.jpg
On a rock

There are many bizarre rock formations around. Local folks believe each of these mountains has one special rock as a guardian spirit. The Kravi mountain is guarded by this unusual rock resembling a wizard's head which is called Napoleon by the locals.

12-napoleo.jpg
Napoleon Rock

15-forest.jpg
In a spruce forest

After visiting Kraví mountain we took a forest road to climb the other nearby mountain called Kuní (“Marten’s”) which is 925 meters high.

20-kuni-hora.jpg
A view from the top of Kuní Mountain

Kuní Mountain isn't frequented by tourists, so we were totally alone all the way. It has a steep rocky top all covered with trees. This mountain’s interesting feature is panholes (small round basins in stone), they say there are six of them on the top rocks but we’ve managed to find only one.

21-boys-kuni-hora.jpg
The top rocks are quite steep here

After having returned from Kuní, we’ve took another forest road and soon got to Dobra Voda ("Good Water"), another mountain village and a once famous pilgrimage site with a beautiful baroque church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary built in 18th century. The water from the spring the church is built on is said to heal eyesight.

23-dobra-voda.jpg
The church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Dobrá Voda

Also, local researchers say the site is located on a so called ley line, an invisible line supposedly connecting ancient landmarks. The idea behind lay lines belongs to the archaeologist Alfred Watkins and although it sounds like a pseudoscience, I think it has some grounds when applied to mountain sites because smoke signal, a many thousands years old “telegraph”, used bonfires located on high places. Dobrá Voda can be seen from almost anywhere and as the area was inhabited since Stone Age by many tribes including Celtic Boii, such a use of this site was quite possible. But I will keep Celtic stories for my next photo trips. Stay in the air! :)


The photos were taken by me with a Canon EOS 400D camera.
Previous photo trip: Theresia's Valley in South Bohemia

I'm a blogger, web designer, entrepreneur, world citizen and a father to eight. If you've enjoyed this post, be sure to follow me at @vitkolesnik.
Sort:  

nice sharing , upvoted

beautiful

Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by vitkolesnik from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, and someguy123. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.

If you like what we're doing please upvote this comment so we can continue to build the community account that's supporting all members.

This post has received a sweet gift of Dank Amps in the flavor of 13.16 % upvote from @lovejuice thanks to: @vitkolesnik. Vote for Aggroed!

Loading...

Wow - nice photos!

Beautiful photos @vitkolesnik I will follow you

Thank you, and for resteeming, too! :)

Your so welcome

I'm looking forward to visiting the eastern parts of Europe in the future. Been focusing mostly on West and Central Europe. Thanks for sharing your awesome photos :)

Glad you liked the photos! :) Stop by when you're there!

I got a bellyRub and this post has received a 0.52 % upvote from @bellyrub thanks to: @zeartul.

What a trip, amazing photos!

Thank you for your lovely trip. I could feel like there ;))) Great info. Thank you for sharing. Up and resteem ;))) Have a wonderful day.

Glad you liked it, thanks for the up and resteem!)

You are so welcome ;))

Czech Republic has beautiful places and landscapes to offer. I love our neighbor country.

မဂၤလာပါ
vitkolesnik
How to write love, that's submitte cool. Me to learn your post.
There are a lot of, I do not know about steem.
Loved by many