Crazy4Prague

Sourrandings of Prague



In the surroundings of Prague the history has left numerous traces in the form of historic monuments of European significance. The most attractive ones include the castles Karlštejn and Křivoklát, the chateau Konopiště and the town Kutná Hora the historic core of which is inscribed in the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. The whole territory attracts the lovers of active rest. Awaiting the golfplayers are twelve golf courses, boating on the Vltava, Berounka and Sázava rivers has a many-years‘ tradition, luring for rest and relaxation is the spa Poděbrady. Situated in the surroundings of Prague are several protected landscape areas, e.g. the biospheric preserve of the area of Křivoklát, the romantic landscape of the Sázava Basin or the protected landscape area of Český kras (the Bohemian Karst) with the Koněprusy caves.


Karlštejn castle

High Gothic castle founded in 1348, which has a unique position among Czech castles. It was built by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place for safekeeping of the royal treasures, especially Charles's collection of holy relics and the coronation jewels of the Roman Empire. The first stay of Charles IV in the castle is documented in 1355 when he came to supervise the building works as well as the decoration of interiors, especially the castle chapels. The construction of the castle was finished in 1365 when the Chapel of the Holy Cross situated in the Great tower was consecrated. At the outbreak of the Hussite wars the castle became the place for safekeeping of the
Czech coronation jewels, which were kept here, with the exception of several short-time breaks, for nearly 200 years. The castle was reconstructed in late Gothic style after 1480 and in Renaissance style in the last quarter of the 16th century. The present appearance of the castle comes from the last reconstruction, which was carried out in the purist neo-Gothic style by architect Josef Mocker at the end of the 19th century. Very impressive is the original step-like order of buildings. From the Well tower and Burgrave's palace located as the lowest you walk up to the majestic five-storied Imperial palace and further up towards the Marian tower. And finally at the top of the headland stands the monumental 60m high and separately fortified Great tower.

Křivoklát castle

The castle of Křivoklát belongs to the oldest and most important castles of the Czech princes and kings. The history of its construction starts in the 12th century. During the reign of Přemysl Otakar II. a large, monumental royal castle was built to be later rebuilt by king Václav IV. and even later generously enlarged by king Vladislav of Jagellon.
The castle of Křivoklát was seriously damaged by fire several times. It became a feared prison and its importance sank rapidly. First during the Romantic époque of the 19th century (when under rule of the family of Fürstenberg that owned the castle until 1929) the castle was reconstructed - and saved. See a beautiful castle chapel, the Great Royal and Chivalric Halls with an exhibition of Gothic paintings and sculptures, the castle library containing over 52.000 bands, a rich museum and a painting gallery of the Fürstenberg, a famous castle prison with torture chambers and torture instruments, a monumental tower with a collection of hunting trophies and a view of the surrounding area, a pleasant walk around the castle walls, the tower Huderka with an open-hearth kitchen and an observatory gallery, the seat of the captain with temporary exhibitions…all of this and much more belongs to Křivoklát, a national cultural monument.

Konopiste Chateau

Konopiste Chateau contains the large collection of 300 000 hunting trophies. The original castle was built in the Early Gothic on the model of a French castellum near Prague. Renaissance and Baroque reconstruction changed the castle into grand stately home. At the end of the 19th century it was refurbished in the Romantic style for Franz Ferdinand d´Este, successor to the Habsburg throne. d´Este uses the chateau very often. The chateau can be visited with our tour Konopiste Chateau - one day trip from Prague.

Kutná Hora

The town began in 1142 with the settlement of the first Cistercian Monastery in Bohemia, Kloster Sedlitz, brought from the reichsunmittelbar Cistercian Imperial Waldsassen Abbey. By 1260 German miners began to mine for silver in the mountain region, which they named Kuttenberg, and which was part of the monastery property. The name of the mountain is said to have arrived from the miners workclothes garb (the Kutten). Under Abot Heinrich Heidenreich the territory greatly advanced due to the silver mines which gained importance during the economic boom of the 13th century.
The earliest traces of silver have been found dating back to the 10th century, when Bohemia already was in the crossroads of long-distance trade for many centuries. Silver dinars have been discovered belonging to the period between 982-995 in the settlement of Malín, which is now a part of Kutná Hora. From the 13th to 16th centuries the city competed with Prague economically, culturally and politically. Since 1995 the city center has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In 1300 when King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia issued the new royal mining code Ius regale montanorum. This was a legal document that specified all administrative as well as technical terms and conditions necessary for the operation of mines. The city developed with great rapidity, and at the outbreak of the Hussite Wars in 1419 was next to Prague the most important in Bohemia, having become the favourite residence of several Bohemian kings. It was here that, on January 18,
In 1420 Emperor Sigismund made the city the base for his unsuccessful attack on the Taborites during the Hussite Wars; Kuttenberg (Kutná Hora) was taken by Jan Žižka, and after a temporary reconciliation of the warring parties was burned by the imperial troops in 1422, to prevent its falling again into the hands of the Taborites. Žižka nonetheless took the place, and under Bohemian auspices it awoke to a new period of prosperity. Along with the rest of Bohemia, Kuttenberg (Kutná Hora) passed to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526. In 1546 the richest mine was hopelessly flooded; in the insurrection of Bohemia against Ferdinand I the city lost all its privileges; repeated visitations of the plague and the horrors of the Thirty Years' War completed its ruin. Half-hearted attempts after the peace to repair the ruined mines failed; the town became impoverished, and in 1770 was devastated by fire. The mines were abandoned at the end of the 18th century. At Kuttenberg (Kutna Hora) Prague groschen were minted until 1547. Kuttenberg became part of the Austrian Empire in 1806 and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1866. The city became part of Czechoslovakia after World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary. Kutná Hora was incorporated into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia by Nazi Germany from 1939-1945, but was restored to Czechoslovakia after World War II. The city became part of the Czech Republic in 1993 during the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Kutná Hora and the neighboring town of Sedlec are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Among the most important buildings in the area are the Gothic, five-naved St. Barbara's Church, begun in 1388, and the Italian Court, formerly a royal residence and mint, which was built at the end of the 13th century. The Gothic Stone Haus, which since 1902 has served as a museum, contains one of the richest archives in the country. The Gothic St. James's Church, with its 86 metre tower, is another prominent building. Sedlec is the site of the Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady and the famous Ossuary.

Terezín

Theresienstadt concentration camp (often referred to as Terezín) was a Nazi German ghetto during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city of Terezín. Terezin was originally founded 1780 by Joseph II as a fortress city. The city, wich is creaed like a checkerboard pattern was used by Queen Maria Theresa served as a garrison town.
In November 1941 the German war criminal, "Reichsprotector" Reinhard Heydrich, converted Terezin city into a ghetto and concentration camp. To this place mostly artists, intellectuals, Communists or German Jews (from the First World War or highly decorated) were deported. Prominent artists from Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic as the actor Kurt Geron were among the victims. For Nazi-Publicity, Theresienstadt was shown as a model settlement for Jews.
The Nazi propaganda staged public cultural and sports events in Terezin for audiences like the Red Cross or other international organizations, just to hide the actual murder machinery. Terezin was actually "only" a transit camp for deportation to extermination camps - but an important instrument of Nazi propaganda. Between 1941 and 1945, some 140,000 people has come through Terezin - 35,000 of them died there, another 85,000 were sent to other concentration camps and murdered there. When in 1945 the Soviet army liberated Terezín from the hands of the Nazis, they found almost 18,000 survivors. Visitors to the Theresienstadt ghetto should visit the Museum (Muzeum ghetta). It is located in the building on the main street, City Hall corner route, where the accommodations for the abducted children (boys of 10-15) have been. You can also visit the accommodations of criminals: At the other side of the park are the headquarters of the SS officers. Right next to the main entrance is the cemetery with nearly 2,300 mostly unnamed graves - right next to it in the "Small Fortress" (Mala Pevnost) the prison and the torture center of Gestapo for a total of 32,000 political prisoners.