NATURE IN ACTION

The garden of the Vrchotovy Janovice chateau owes its unusual charm largely to the Countess Sidonie Nádherná who lived in the chateau in the first half of the 20th century. The architect Eduard Fiala, who was invited to landscape the gardens by the beautiful Countess, selected a perfect composition of trees and bushes, creating thus a number of intimate nooks and a network of paths in the steep terrain. With excellent skills, he further complemented the gardens with a pond and a stream. When visiting the park you must not overlook the huge climbing hortensia growing right next to the main entry gate. It is the largest plant of this species to be found in the Czech Republic. However, the park boasts other unique sights; for instance a number of large exotic trees, which will charm you with their breathtaking blossoms in the summer and fascinate you with a wonderful pallet of colourful leaves in the autumn. Rhododendrons are the biggest pride of the park though; it looks as if every possible colour has been planted here – yellow, pink, red and white. Many nesting birds can be spotted in the treetops. One of them is the black stork; they have offspring every year. It is very easy to see roman snails in the grass. Plodding on their relentless journey, they cross the path of many visitors. The recently reconstructed chateau and park are now in the possession of the National Museum. 

Gold was extracted around Roudný as early as the 13th century. The original gold-washing was later replaced by mining technologies. The largest mining boom came at the beginning of the 20th century, and Roudný became the most significant gold mine in Central Europe. The English society Sudgen & Fisher extracted almost 6 tons of pure gold in this locality prior to 1930. The mining went as deep as 450 metres; however as the profits gradually decreased, the mining was eventually stopped during the economic depression. The last works in this area were carried out in the 1950s. Parts of the old buildings are now being used for different purposes, while other parts have disappeared without a trace. The rugged terrain with spoil heaps and remnants of pits with numerous depressions still remind us of the former mining activities. The mostly caved-in tunnels are occupied by bats. Large mouse-eared bats regularly spend their winters in the 300-metre-long Mořic Stole. The steady temperature in the tunnels enables bats to hibernate during the winter period; however they must not be disturbed during hibernation, so the entry to the tunnel is blocked. The Mořic Stole was listed in the National Register of Significant European Localities under the Natura 2000 Scheme as a significant hibernation spot in 2004. Large heaps of processed material, fine silica sand, were left at the Roudné locality. Thus, unprecedented sand dunes appeared in the landscape below the Blaník Hill. The tiger beetle was discovered here in the 1990s, a ground-beetle species prevalent mainly in more southern countries and rare in the Czech Republic. Sand lizards like the ragged terrain and occupy the sunny spots. Pine trees were later planted in the sand pits of the former sludge lagoons and Formica ants now build their anthills here.

One of the last primeval forests in the Sázava River valley can be found on the steep, rocky slope above the river. Thanks to its inaccessibility this rich mixed tree forest has been growing here undisturbed for more than 150 years. Beech wood with a lot of flowers is a natural phenomenon of this place. You can see it with your own eyes early in the spring when the still bare tree tops let the light in to bring numerous spring flowers to life. At places you can spot the white fir, sycamore and linden tree among the beech trees, some of which have grown to a respectable size. Spruce also has its place here, growing mainly in the moister and shadier spots. The peace of the forest is good for animals. The fire salamander, a strikingly coloured nature jewel, lives near the stream. High in the treetops live black woodpeckers with their typical red hoods. They can easily find enough food to eat and tree hollows to live in here. There are a lot of fallen tree trunks in the forest, which makes it difficult to walk through. This, however, is no problem for the sweet marten. They skillfully manage the tree branches with their fit, lean bodies, while their brown colouring makes them inconspicuous in the dim forest light. The Ve Studeném primeval forest was established a national nature reserve as early as in 1935 for its nature treasures. Foresters have left the oldest parts of the forest to its own course, thus enabling us to observe the undisturbed natural process, to admire and study it.

The history of mining at the Fiolník Hill near the village of Vlastějovice has seen splendour as well as the downfall of the mining craft. A nobleman, Jindřich Firšic of Nabdín, received the right to extract the ore near Vlastějovice in 1540. At those times mainly open-cast quarrying technology was applied and the works were carried out near the Church of St. Mary Magdalene. Only later on and upon receiving more sophisticated tools the miners ventured underground. This happened when there was high demand for iron during the industrial revolution. Annually between 300 and 500 tons of iron were extracted from the underground mines in Vlastějovice in the course of the 19th century, with miners working in three pits up to 390 metres deep. The mining works carried out between 1945 and 1965 were centred around a large deposit in the Holý Vrch hill with the total of 440 kilotons of iron extracted from a span of ten stories underground. The high density of the rock allowed for a unique mining technology – via an open chamber from the corridors connecting individual floors. Then the ore was transported to the surface and later moved to the nearby train station to be taken to the ironworks in Kladno. The main deposit of ore ran out in 1965 and the mine operation was stopped. However, a quarry was open on Holý Vrch in 1967; it has been in operation ever since. The main rock of this area is skarn, with the largest deposits located on Holý Vrch and around the ruins of the Church of St. Mary Magdalena. Skarn is an ore iron with a high content of garnet and pyroxene and smaller amounts of delphinite and magnetite. The content of iron in the ore was around 50%. A common and typical sign of tactite from the Vlastějovice area is the content of pegmatite, with a typical content of fluorite, allanite and other minerals. Pegmatite creates irregular veins and usually contains fluorite and other interesting minerals.

The garden of the Vlašim Chateau is undoubtedly one of the most important landscaped parks in the Czech Republic. The rugged and charming valley of the Blanice River with the river flood-plains and rocky drop-offs was complemented by a sensitively planted selection of trees and bushes. Today’s visitors can also admire numerous edifices built in the Romanticism style; most noticeable are the Neo-Gothic entry gates and the Chinese Pavilion. Huge forest oaks and linden trees dot the entire garden; the oldest probably came from the original park of the chateau. Their massive trunks are interwoven with large mouldering hollows. In addition to domestic trees the gardens also boast foreign tree species – Kentucky coffeetree, honey locust, hemlock, tulip tree, and huge wild black cherries. Autumn is a symphony of colours of various types and shapes of leaves. Heaps of fallen leaves and branches attract hedgehogs that seek food and shelter for hibernation. On the other hand, the river flood-plains around the Blanice are better visited in the spring, when they blossom with red-coloured fireball and yellow crowfoot flowers. The garden gently merges with the open landscape at the edge of the town. You may spot the nuthatch on the tree trunks. Looking for insects in the chinks, this grey-coated skilful climber can climb the trunks upside down. The Vlašim Chateau Garden has undergone a large reconstruction in the past years. A lot of buildings were repaired and some forgotten paths were also restored. The ancient trees have been professionally treated, and a lot of new bushes and trees have been planted in the park. Every season brings a new surprise to visitors of the gardens.