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Stachelberg fort
I have never been much interested in military history and don’t know much about it but I was quite impressed by the Stachelberg fort my family and I visited in northern Bohemia. The Stachelberg fort was built as part of border defences against Nazi Germany growing in power, it was supposed to become the largest Czechoslovak artillery fort. The fort consists of 12 objects connected by means of extensive underground, the total length of tunnels and rooms situated 25 to 60 metres underground is approximately 3.5 kilometres. Construction of the fort started in October 1937 and should have been finished in 2 years but it was stopped prematurely in October…
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Autumnal bits and pieces
Today I would like to share a few photos that I took in Rokycany in September, at the beginning of coming autumn. No. 1: Boxes in front of a vegetable shop Squash everywhere… in many types and sizes. No. 2: Light and shadows I took this photo in a park. There was an interesting wooden shape on the ground, something like a spiral, just triangular. I don’t know if it is intended as a place to sit down or whether it is just decorative, probably both. I loved how the light and shade complemented one another and that brought me to turning the photo into black and white which simplified…
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Flower Garden in Kroměříž
The Flower Garden in Kroměříž is an exceptional garden which belongs to the world’s most important examples of garden art. It’s not huge but it represents a transition between Italian late renaissance gardens and French baroque and classicist gardens and although it’s more than three hundred years old, its concept has been preserved to this day. As I mentioned in my previous post about the Archbishop chateau in Kroměříž, in 1998 the whole complex of the chateau and its gardens including the Flower Garden was added to the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The garden was established in 1665 – 1675 by bishop Karel II of Lichtenstein-Castelkorn,…
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Archbishop chateau in Kroměříž
In my post about Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach I mentioned the Archbishop chateau in Kroměříž and today I would like to tell you more about it. Castles and chateaus are usually linked to the history of noble families but the chateau in Kroměříž used to be property of bishops and archbishops residing in about 50 kilometres distant Olomouc, they used the chateau for representative purposes. The settlement Kroměříž became property of Olomouc episcopate way back in 1110. 150 years later it was declared a town, a castle was built there and all administration of the episcopate was brought there. In the first half of the sixteenth century the castle was remodelled into…
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Castle and chateau Frýdlant
In the Jizera Mountains in northern Bohemia, you can find a castle and chateau in one. It has the same name as a nearby town – Frýdlant – and belongs to one of the most important historical buildings in the Czech Republic. The castle was built in the 13th century to protect tradesmen using local business trails. A legend says that in the core of the castle was a stately tower on top of which fire was set to serve the tradesmen as a beacon. The castle was owned by several noble families that remodelled and improved the castle gradually. In the 16th century, part of the castle was rebuilt…
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Botanical garden in Liberec
When I was planning trips for our holiday in the Jizera Mountains, the Botanical garden in Liberec was one of the places which caught my attention, especially for the architecture of its greenhouses and for its new „Water Lily Pavilion“. The garden greatly exceeded my expectations which is why I would like to present it to you. The Botanical garden in Liberec is the oldest botanical garden in the Czech Republic. It started its operation in 1895 and its purpose was primarily to provide green vegetation for the town. During both world wars its condition deteriorated, it served mostly as a market garden. At last in 1954, it was changed…
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Observation tower Slovanka
Slovanka, the oldest iron observation tower in Bohemia, is situated at the top of the hill Slovanka in the Jizera Mountains, at an altitude of 820 metres, not far from the town Janov nad Nisou. The tower is 11 metres high, 14 metres including the base. It is permanently accessible and the access is free of charge. We spent our family holiday in the vicinity and visited the observation tower twice. I would say that there is nothing spectacular about the tower, yet it looks good, there is a nice view from its top and also, it represents an interesting piece of history. The tower was constructed according to a…
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Air Park
In February my hubby and I visited an air park in Zruč u Plzně where we were looking for some interesting captures for our photo project. You could already see some photos in my part of the whole post but I would like to show you more as the air park is quite a special place. The air park is an open-air aviation museum where you can find both civil and military planes and helicopters, and also military vehicles such as tanks and armoured vehicles. Many of them were saved from becoming scrap and are maintained to keep history alive. The open-air museum was established in 1993 by father and son Tarantíks who gathered the exhibits. It is…
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Pilsen in morning light
Pilsen with its about 170 thousand inhabitants is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic and it is mostly known for Pilsner beer and former Škoda works. In Czech, the city is called Plzeň. I was born there, grew up there and have been watching its transformation throughout the years. Times, they are changing… and the city has changed as well, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. The other day my hubby and I went to Pilsen to try and take a few interesting photos. We went in the morning to catch some early light and were lucky to get it. We also got a surprise but…
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Visiting Klatovy and leaving way too early
In January my hubby and I visited Klatovy, a town in Western Bohemia. There are nice places to take photos of but unfortunately the weather changed significantly while we were going there and when we arrived at the town, it wasn’t much favourable for shooting outside. Having said that, we didn’t let the weather deter us entirely from our intentions and spent some time in the town. I would like to share a few photos here that I took by on old church situated not far from the town’s centre. I wanted to capture the side wall of the church with the adjacent little house when the man with the children stepped in front…
