"Only the nights are, liberatingly bathed..."

Vladimir HOLAN

Thursday, August 21 As part of this year's Krkonoše Pilgrimage, we want to celebrate the poet Vladimír Holan, the great heir of KH Mácha. Holan spent his childhood in Mácha's region around Bezděz, which profoundly influenced his poetry. Like Mácha, he is a poet of the night, fascinated by the mystery of death. On Thursday, August 21, at 9 a.m., we will meet in the park on Kampa near the house where Vladimír Holan has lived since 1948. Here, under the crowns of a mighty plane tree and a beautiful linden tree, we will commemorate the relationship between the two great poets Mácha and Holan. We will read an excerpt from Holan's text About KH Mácha and some of Holan's poems from the poetry collections Triumph of Death and Vanutí, including verses from the poet's key poem Night with Hamlet. Those of you who come to this meeting can bring with you Holan's poems that have appealed to you in some way. We will share Holan's poetry with each other and find out how it resonates with our lives today. Finally, we will walk through Petřín and, with Ondřej Skovajsa, a recent doctoral student at the Institute of Czech Literature and Comparative Studies at Charles University, we will remember the poets Jaroslav Vrchlický and Rainer Maria Rilke.

“Even though, my love, you are still my constant presence, oh yes! Just like a waterfall: even though the water keeps leaving it, it still remains in the same place.”

Vladimir HOLAN (Pain)

Pilgrimage of the Giant Mountains

We will set off on our own Krkonoše Pilgrimage in Friday, August 22 at 8 am from the observatory in Ládví. For the first time, we will consider this journey as a celebration of poetry and at the same time as a work trip, which should lead to the final form of the route of Mácha's Pilgrimage Route (approx. 280 km). From the city center, you can take the metro to the Ládví station and from there you can walk to the observatory. From Ládví we will follow the yellow sign to Ďáblice and from there along a dirt road to Zdib. Then to Zdibsko, Sedlec and through the forest to Panenské Břežany, where we will see the Baroque chapel of St. Anne by architect Santini. Then we will travel to Čenkov and through the natural monument Kopeč and Netřebská slaniska to Obříství on the banks of the Elbe. We will cross the Elbe over the bridge at Štěpán and along its course we will reach the castle in Mělník. We will spend the night in the Hořínský park below Mělník.

"The Bezděz Castle rustled over your boyhood and the elves of small groves The shawl of the bright landscape undulated with endless oaks."

Vladimír HOLAN (The Crazy Fan)

Saturday, August 23 We will meet at 8 am at the viewpoint at the Mělnice Castle, from where there is a beautiful view of the confluence of the Vltava and Elbe rivers and the nearby Říp. From there we will set off along the well-known route of the Máchov Way to Bezděz: along the red trail to Lhotka and further through Kokořínský důl via Harasov, Kokořín, Vojtěchov, Olešno and Ráj na Housku. We will rest in the Na konci sil pub and visit the beech forest behind Houska Castle, one of the main “places of poetry” on the Máchov Way. Here we will remember KH Mácha by reading from May. Then we will go to the Hostince pod Houskou, where at 8 pm we will start a poetry evening. We will introduce you to Mácha’s pilgrimage path, we will remember the “poetry of the night” of Vladimír Holan, who spent his childhood not far from here in Bělá pod Bezdězem. And also the poetry of the poet Kamil Bednář, who lived in Mělník at the end of his life, where he wrote and translated poems by Robinson Jeffers; we will read two excerpts from Bednář's translations of Jeffers' poems. Then Ondřej Skovajsa will give a lecture on "The Written Voice of Whitman's Leaves of Grass (1855)" and Ondřej Vavrečka will give a lecture on "On the Dual Form of (Film) Shapes". The musical group PAUMANOK will perform - Ondřej Skovajsa, Ondřej Vavrečka and Pauli Bauer. We will spend the night in an inn.

“Only when you come to terms with death… will you understand that everything under the sun is truly new.”

Vladimír HOLAN (A Night with Hamlet)

Sunday, August 24th We will go through Bořejov – where we will visit the church of St. James the Elder with a modern altarpiece of the pilgrim St. James the Greater by Aleš Krejč –, Ždírec and Okno na Bezděz. From there we will continue to Bělá pod Bezdězem, where we will remember the stay and work of Vladimír Holan. We will then continue along the blue trail through the forest to Bitouchov and from there to the ruins of Zvířetice Castle, where we will spend the night.

Monday, August 25 we will set off along the Jizera River to Malá Bělá and follow the red trail through Nová Ves to the Račov National Nature Monument with moorland meadows and wetland alders, around the St. Prokop spring through the Klokočka field to the Hradiště nad Jizerou Monastery to Mnichov Hradiště. From there we will continue along the red trail to the Bohemian Paradise to the rock castle Valečov and then along the green trail to the Komárovský pond, where we will swim. We will then set off along the green trail and then along the red trail to the Kost Castle, from there along the blue trail through Dobšice to Vyskeř, before which we will spend the night in a meadow by the forest.

Tuesday, August 26 We will ascend the Stations of the Cross to the chapel on Vyskeř (466 m above sea level) and from there we will continue along the blue mark to Hrubá skála and then along the red mark to Trosky. From Trosky along the green mark and then along the red mark through Mladějov to the rock castle of Pařez, near which we will spend the night in an overhang.

Wednesday, August 27 we will follow the green trail through the Prachov Rocks to Prachov and from there follow the blue trail through Přivýšina, Brad and Kbelnice to Jičín, where we will have lunch. We will visit the Wallenstein Loggia and Zebín. In the evening we will follow the green trail to Železnice and further before Bradlecká Lhota to the ruins of Bradlec Castle, and finally to the ruins of Kumburk Castle, where we will spend the night.

Thursday, August 28 We will hike along the red trail to Nová Paka and from Nová Paka continue along the red trail through Radkyně to Pecky. From there, follow the yellow trail under Jelení hřbet to Borovnice and further under Čistecká hůra (586 m above sea level), where we will spend the night at the edge of the forest.

Friday, August 29th We will follow the yellow path over Čistecká hůra to Čistá and from there we will continue along the dirt road to Bukovina u Studenec and then along the road to Studenec and from there along the red path to Strážník peak (630 m above sea level). From Strážník follow the blue path to Martinice v Krkonoše and from there along the blue path to Horní Braná. We will pass Horní Braná to Valteřice, which we will pass and then set off along the blue path to the foothills of the Krkonoše, where we will spend the night in the meadows under the forest (or alternatively, we will spend the night in our makeshift hayloft).

Saturday, August 30 We will follow the blue trail to the Křížovka crossroads on the border of the Krkonoše National Park and from there follow the yellow trail to Přední Žalý (1018 m above sea level). We will then continue along the ridge along the red trail to Černá skála (1038 m above sea level) and further to Mechovinec (1074 m above sea level) and Horní Mísečky, from where we will descend along the red trail to Špindlerův Mlýn, where we will have lunch. From Špindlerův Mlýn, we will then set off along the yellow trail through the Bílé Elbe Valley to Luční bouda, where we will spend the night.

Sunday, August 31st We will climb to the sunrise on Sněžka (1602 m above sea level). On the top of Sněžka we will read Mácha's prose Pouť Krkonošská. From the top of Sněžka we will descend along the blue Obří Důl to Pec pod Sněžkou and from there we will return by bus to Prague. Or we will take an alternative route via Horní Mísečky to Horní Maršov and from there by bus to Prague.  

 “O life, O life, your time, a strange, contradictory journey and weight, a creeping, silent trace or groove, but like an angel suddenly lifts its wings to ineffable distances, O life, you are mysterious time.”

Rainer Maria RILKE

Bus connection on August 31 from Pec to Prague: Pec pod Sněžkou / departure: 13:15 – Prague, Černý most / arrival: 16:28 Pec pod Sněžkou / departure: 16:15 – Prague / arrival: 19:28 Other connections with a transfer depart from Pec at 13:30, 15:30, 16:29 Bus connection on August 31 from Horní Maršov to Prague: Horní Maršov-most / departure: 15:03 – Prague, Černý most / arrival: 17:49 Horní ?aršov-most / departure: 16:28 – Prague, Černý most / arrival: 19:28 Other connections with a transfer depart from H. Maršov at 14:41, 15:43, 16:41 and 17:25.

NOTICE

If you do not walk the entire route with us, you can join the journey at the main points of the pilgrimage route – i.e. in Mělnica, Houska, Mnichovo Hradiště, Jičín, Pecce, Špindlerův Mlýn – and walk with us for any length of time. We remind you that we do not provide overnight accommodation anywhere in advance. We sleep under the stars. If you want to insure your accommodation, please book it yourself. We also recommend that you bring blister plasters with you – the best brand is COSMOS. Everyone is free to walk and is responsible for themselves. We only ask that you be tolerant of other pilgrims.

CONTACTS

• Jiří Zemánek, sarvanga@centrum.cz, mobile: 777 117 466
• Vladimir Drábek, drabekvladimir00@gmail.com, mobile: 602 646 665
• Tomáš Hrůza, tomashruza@gmail.com, mobile: 775 052 607
• Ondřej Skovajsa, oskovajsa@gmail.com 

“I believe that a lot of good would come from a change in attitude, if tourists became pilgrims again.”

Rupert SHELDRAKE