Although for most visitors, Prague is the Czech Republic, there is far more to see and do throughout the country. Tourism is still in its infancy but the strides forward since the Velvet Revolution in 1989 have been remarkable. There are over 3000 castles, palaces and other historic monuments throughout the country. Equally characteristic are the country’s many important churches from the Gothic to the Baroque periods. Spas have been an important cultural phenomenon since the 19th century and, indeed, there are 176 spas in the country today. The Czech Republic has four National Parks, 24
Protected Landscape Areas, 113 National Nature Reserves, 453 Nature Reserves, 99 National Nature Monuments and 850 Nature Monuments, most of which have only been founded since 1990. The country is divided into two provinces: Bohemia in the west and Moravia in the east.
PraguePicturesquely sited on the banks of the Vltava (Moldau) River, Prague has always played an important part in the history of Europe. It is noted for magnificent Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Belle Epoque/Art Nouveau and Cubist architecture, as well as its cultural scene of elegance. Since the fall of Communism, Prague has rapidly regained its cafe culture and is again very much the ‘Paris of the East’. The city’s historical center, never bombed in World War II, is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Key places to visit are the Hradcany complex of Prazsky hrad (Prague Castle), including Palace rooms like the Vladislavsky sál (Vladislav Hall) which was once used by Bohemian knights for jousting, the Katedrála sv Víta (St Vitus Cathedral) and the Basilica of sv Jirí (St George Basilica). Views over the Vltava, spanned by many bridges, including the famous medieval Karluv most (Charles Bridge), contribute to Prague’s reputation as a ‘fairytale city’. The Lesser Town (Mala Strana) beneath the castle is a quarter of winding, narrow streets with palaces from the 17th and 18th centuries and small artisan houses. The Old Town (Stare Mesto) across the Charles Bridge includes important tourist sites like the Old Town Hall (Staromestska radnice) with its astronomical clock, the Gothic Tyn Church behind the square and the Jewish Town with its old cemetery and six synagogues. The area around Vaclavske namesti (Wenceslas Square) is the principal shopping area of the city. To the south is Vysehrad with its Slavin Cemetery honoring the intellectuals and artists, and its Cubist villas.
ExcursionsNear to Prague is a grim reminder of the horrors of World War II – the site of the ‘show’ concentration camp at Terezin, which is now a museum. Also in the area are the castles of Karlstejn, Krivoklat and Konopiste. Near Karlstejn is the Cesky kras (Bohemian Karst), a region of limestone caves, of which Konepruské jeskyne is open to the public. The historic silver mining town of Kutna Hora with the dominating Gothic cathedral of sv Barbora (St Barbara) is another UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. North of Prague, at the confluence of the Vltava and the Labe rivers, is Melník, with its Zamek (Castle), built by the Lobkowitz family; this area is now returning to its former role as an important wine-making region.
BohemiaHeavy industrialization in Northern Bohemia has taken its toll and many of the forests suffer greatly from the effects of acid rain. A start to correcting this situation has been made but it will be many years before significant results are shown. However, the north remains a popular destination with Czech and German tourists. Much of the area’s interest lies in the sandstone ‘rock-cities’ (spectacular mini-canyons and steep bluffs of volcanic rocks in a densely forested area) of the Cesky Svycarsko (Bohemian Switzerland) especially around Tisa, the Cesky raj (Bohemian paradise) between Turnov and Jicin and the area around Broumov. The Krkonoše (Giant) Mountains National Park of northeast Bohemia offers superb scenery, excellent hiking and many downhill and cross-country ski and snowboarding facilities; Spindleruv Mlyn, on the banks of River Labe, is the most visited mountain town in the park.
Southwest of Prague, Plzen, the second-largest city in Bohemia, boasts eclectic architecture from the Gothic to Art Nouveau, interesting museums and galleries like the Brewery Museum and the Západoceské Galérie (one of the best art galleries outside Prague), and the world-famous
Pilsner beer to which the town has given its name; beer had been brewed since the town’s foundation in 1295 but it was only in 1842 that the Pilsner style was established. Guided tours of the Plzensky Prazdroj brewery are available.
The Trebonsko region of south Bohemia is made up of peat bogs and marshes, with linked fish-farming ponds dating from the 15th century; carp is the traditional Christmas Day dish in the Czech lands and fish farming still dominates the region. Trebon is a perfect medieval spa town right in the middle of the area of fish ponds. The enormous Zamek (Castle) was built by Peter Vok, the last Rozmberk heir, who was fond of alchemy, sex and drugs; its large ‘English park’ now provides walks for the spa patients.
Southern Bohemia, with its lakes and woods, has for a long time been a favorite holiday place for families, since it has many recreational facilities and points of historic interest. The country is also famed for its caves: the rock formation of the mountain ranges form underground rivers and chambers decorated above and below with stalactites and stalagmites. Ceske Budejovice (Budweis), whose wealth was founded on silver mines, and the salt route from Linz to Prague boasts one of Europe’s largest town squares. However, it is the local beer,
Budvar (Budweiser) which is the town’s main claim to fame. The medieval town of Cesky Krumlov (a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site) has its enormous castle perched on a ridge above the young River Vltava, and the region to the border is full of castles, monasteries and churches. The Sumava/Bohemian Forest towards the German border is the country’s largest National Park, and with the Bavarian Forest across the border forms the largest forest complex in Europe. The park includes glacial lakes, many areas of virgin forest and important historic monuments. Good wintersports centers include Zelezna Ruda, Spicak, Zadov, Churanov and Kramolin. The northern shore of Lake Lipno has many small popular summer resorts and is a good location for exploring the Sumava.
In western Bohemia, the health resorts or spas remain one of the country’s primary attractions, with their many springs, graceful colonnades and parks, spectacular houses and hotels. By the 19th century, the combination of their cures and their position at the meeting point of the two German-speaking empires made them the focal point of central Europe. Beethoven, Wagner, Edward VII and Goethe all admired the resort of Marianske Lazne (Marienbad), whilst the town of Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad), the king of the spas, has attracted the crowned heads of Europe to bathe in its sulphurous waters. Frantiskovy Lazne, however, is the most typical spa town, laid out in perfect symmetry with delightful parks and 24 springs used to cure heart disease and infertility. There is also a nature reserve near the town.
MoraviaBrno, the capital of Moravia, dates from the 13th century and has the fine Moravian Museum; an important Augustinian Monastery where the great geneticist, Mendel, was Abbot; the Capuchin Church with its mummies; and the Gothic Špilberk Castle. A large number of international trade fairs take place in the Brno Exhibition Center. To the northeast is the Moravsky krás, the area of great limestone caves around Blansko. To the northwest, the Gothic castle of Pernstejn is probably closest to most people’s idea of what a medieval castle should look like; the hour-long train journey to it up the Svratka Valley is an attractive trip. Southwest of Brno, three towns in particular stand out as tourist locations: Moravsky Krumlov with its Mucha Gallery, including great pictures, such as ‘Slovanska epopej’ (The Slav Epic), Slavkov (Austerlitz), near the Napoleonic battlefield, and Bucovice, whose castle features the remarkable Zajeci sal (The Hall of Hares) with murals of hares revenging themselves on men and dogs.
In the Vysocina (Bohemian-Moravian Uplands) to the east, the towns of Telc (a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site) and Slavonice are two of the most perfect examples of Renaissance towns in Europe. Telc, including the Zamec (Castle), was completely rebuilt after the fire of 1530; medieval arcades surround the town square with its gabled and pedimented houses. Slavonice is another old town founded on silver mining. In Zdar nad Sazavou, about 40km (25 miles) northeast of Jihlava, the Cistercian monastery and pilgrimage church dedicated to sv Jan Nepomucky (St John of Nepomuk) was designed by Prague-born Giovanni Santini, one of the greatest artists of the Czech Counter-Reformation, who married Gothic and Baroque forms, often with a humor lacking in other architects. Nearby in Ostrov nad Oslavou, he designed a
hostinec (pub) shaped like the letter ‘W’ to honor a fellow architect, and the village church at Obyctov, shaped like a turtle, one of the Virgin Mary’s more obscure symbols.
The area between the small wine-making towns of Lednice and Valtice was once a possession of the Grand Dukes of Liechtenstein. Several impressive castles, landscaped parks and structural follies are dotted over an area of 250 sq km (96 sq miles), broken up by numerous ponds and forests. To the west, the area between Znojmo and Vranov on the River Dyji (Thaya in German) is an area of untouched river valley, now a joint National Park on both sides of the Austrian border. Northeast of Brno, Kromeriz (also accessible as a day trip from Prague) is a beautifully preserved Baroque town; its great Bishop’s Palace includes an important art collection (including paintings from the auction after the execution of the English Charles I), and superb water gardens which run down to the banks of the Morava river.
Despite many ecological disaster zones and the great – and unpleasant – industrial center of Ostrava, northern Moravia has much to offer the independent traveller. Olomouc, now happily recovered from its era as a Soviet garrison, is once again an attractive university town noted as much for its parks as for its Baroque churches, sculptures and fountains. The surrounding Haná region is strongly agricultural, with many villages having attractive harvest festivals in late September. In the extreme north, the Jeseniky Mountains are an eastern extension of the Bohemian Krkonose. Lazne Jesenik is one of the many famous Czech Silesian spas founded in the 19th century; this area is excellent for hiking, with rocky outcrops, cave systems and monuments. To the east of Ostrava, the hilly Beskydy region (which extends through Poland into the Ukraine) is the area of the
Vlachs (Wallachs), whose culture still survives in folklore and architecture. This area is excellent for hiking and winter sports. The excellent open-air
skansen (Folk Museum) at Roznov pod Radhostem, begun in 1925, is the largest in the country; another good
skansen is at Velke Karlovice.
Valchs architecture can be found to the south in the villages in the Vsetinska Becva valley, including Bzove, Jezerne and Ratkov.
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