Bečov nad Teplou

This time I’ll take you to Bečov nad Teplou, a town whose name I’d translate for you as Bečov upon Teplá. We found out that there is a castle we hadn’t known about and went to see it. When we came to the town, I was surprised by its atmosphere, it looked good. Deep woods, a picturesque castle, pieces of metal plastic art displayed in the streets and reminding blacksmith symposiums having taken place during previous years.

While we were passing by the first houses, we saw the following flower which immediately caught my attention. Later I was trying to identify it with the help of on-line field guides but I didn’t find any one resembling it. Don’t you happen to know its name? It was about 1 metre high.

Before exploring the castle’s courtyard and garden, we decided to follow a 1 kilometre long educational trail heading for the “Gallows Hill”. In the end of this trail you come to a place where remnants of gallows base can be seen and you can read about dealing with capital crimes in the past on boards presented along the way. Quite dark thoughts, aren’t they but I’ve seen a few interesting details along the way.

For example this metal plate portraying archangel Michael on railings in front of an old church:

It’s somewhat lost and not very prominent but I really like it. As you can see, the German word “Erzengel” is used instead of the Czech “archanděl”, it says something about the history of the town.

Or this corner in the back of that church:

I feel attracted by such desolated places and see beauty in them.

When we ascended significant part of the hill, we could admire varied green shades and shapes of the scenery:

Refreshing, aren’t they? And in the last picture you can see the castle in the right upper corner as well as towers of that old church as they could be seen from the distance.

Next time I’ll pay attention to the castle itself.