Příjezdová turistika | Central Bohemia

Central Bohemia

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Příjezdová turistika

Many attractive destinations can be found in the immediate vicinity of Prague. One would hardly leave the country without visiting Karlstejn, the most famous Czech castle. Charles IV., Bohemian King and Roman Emperor, had it built in 1348-1357 as a treasury to keep safe the coronation jewels. Another important castle in central Bohemia is Krivoklat amidst forests west of Prague. Then there is Konopiste Chateau, a residence of Archduke Ferdinand d´Este, the heir to the Austrian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 triggered off World War I. East of Prague is Kutna Hora, in the Middle Ages the richest and second largest town in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Dominant among the historical buildings of this silver mining town is the Gothic Cathedral of St. Barbara, the patroness of miners. The centre of Kutna Hora belongs to the UNESCO cultural heritage. A monument of a different character is the fortified town of Terezin, notorious as the World War II Jewish ghetto and concentration camp. Several important churches are near Prague. The most visited of them is the pilgrimage resort on Svata Hora (Holy Mountain) near Pribram, with which it is linked by a roofed stairway. The beginnings of Czech statehood are connected with another place of pilgrimage, Church of the Assumption in Stara Boleslav, built on the spot where, the patron of Bohemia, St. Wenceslas, was murdered by his brother around the year 935 (929). Many places near Prague are connected with prominent personalities of Czech history. Composer Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) was born in Nelahozeves, the first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomas Garrique Masaryk (1850-1937), is buried at the cemetery in Lany. Landscape-fanciers and sport enthusiasts will enjoy the sandstone labyrinths in the Kokorin area north of Prague. The stalactite Konepruske Caves are open to tourists in the Cesky Kras (Bohemian Karst) protected landscape area southwest of Prague.