“Ronov brings back unforgettable memories for me…”

Antonín CHITTUSS

"Only outside, where there are strong impressions, could over time create something almost like a work of art..."

Antonin SLAVICEK

In the journey, organized as part of the exhibition project “Hay, straw. Work in the landscape and natural processes in art” (OG Vysočina in Jihlava), we will connect the places of work of two great Czech landscape painters. We will start it in Ronov nad Doubravou, where the painter Antonín Chittussi (1847-1891) was born, who was inspired by the local landscape to create several important paintings in the 1880s, and we will end it in Kameničky, representing the gateway to the Žďárské vrchy, where in 1903-1907 the painter Antonín Slavíček (1870-1910), a generation older, created a significant chapter of his work. Both of these remarkable artists, who were guided by nature in their work, incorporated Czech landscape painting into the development of European art. On our journey, we will try to connect the discovery of the places where both of these artists worked with the discovery of the unique and exceptionally rich nature of the southwestern part of the Iron Mountains, including the nature of the Hlinecko region.

Hiking route

Ronov nad Doubravou – Lovětínská ravine – Lichnice – Chittussi valley – Kaňkova mountains – Seč dam – Klokočov – Modletín – Spálava – Dolní Bradlo – Polom – Veselý Kopec – Chrudimka valley – Hlinsko – Kameničky – Hlinsko (70 km). You can complete the entire hiking route with us or join us anywhere. We kindly ask interested parties to contact us using the contact details provided at the end of the invitation.

Day 1: Monday, July 21 (25 km)

We will meet in Prague at the main train station, from where we will take the train to Ronov nad Doubravou at 8:00 a.m. (with a change in Čáslav), where we will arrive at 9:38 a.m. In Ronov, we will remember the most famous local native, painter Antonín Chittussiho, and some of his famous paintings with landscape motifs from the foothills of the Železné Mountains: especially the painting “From the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands” (1882), in which, in depicting the natural state of stones, he expressed something of the mysterious geological story and the special ancient monumentality that characterizes the local landscape.

From Ronov we will follow the red trail to the top of the distinctive, long southwestern ridge of the Železné Mountains, which is the geological dominant of the region, to the Lichnice – Kaňkova Mountains Nature Park. This nature park is characterized by its remarkable geomorphology and unique diversity of animals and plants, especially preserved beech forests. We will climb to the Krkanka peak (567 m above sea level) and continue to Lovetin Gorge, from which we climb to the ruins of a medieval castle Lichen, which evokes an ancient megalithic cult site. We will continue past the Žižek Oak (800 years old) to Hedwig's Valley and through the town of Třemošnice to the Doubrava Nature Park. Following the yellow trail we will walk through the valley along the meanders of the boulder riverbed Doubrava river (today Chittussi Valley), which once inspired Antonín Chittussi to create the painting “Doubravka Valley at Dusk” (1886). 

In this work, the artist wanted to create a typically Czech monumental landscape, the characteristic features of which are antiquity, simplicity, poverty and wistful melancholy. We will continue through the valley that stretches from Ronov to Pařížov, where there is a memorable beech tree and the originally Romanesque church of St. Mary Magdalene. From there we will head to the Pařížov dam (one of the oldest dam reservoirs in our country / 1908-1913) and then along the blue path to Běstvina with the originally Gothic church of John the Baptist, rebuilt in the 18th century by architect Jan Santini Aichl. Then we will continue to the crossroads of Kubík's oak on the ridge of the Železné Mountains at the border with the Kaňkova Mountains - Lichnice nature park and from there along the red path to the solitude of Javorka up to Seč Dam. Along its banks, we head to its eastern part, to Dolní Ves, where we will find a place to swim and spend the night.

Day 2: Tuesday, July 22 (25 km):

In the morning we will set off from Nová Ves along the red trail to the neighboring village of Klokočov, where there is a remarkable memorial. Klokočovská linden tree large-leaved (trunk circumference 888 cm), whose age is estimated at 1000 years. This tree, under which King Wenceslas IV supposedly rested, also had a cult, boundary and orientation significance. An exemplary conservation of the tree's cavity was carried out in 1935 by ing. Frič.

From Klokočov we will continue along the red trail to Modletín with the Baroque church of St. Anne and a spring with healing water, and from there we will continue along the yellow trail to the second highest peak of the Železné hory, the hill Burning (663 m above sea level), below which is the village of the same name with another memorable linden tree, whose age is estimated to be over 500 years. From Spálava we continue via Velká Střítež to the village of Lipka with a memorable small-leaved linden tree (trunk circumference 870 cm), whose age is estimated to be 800 years; and from there to the former glassmaking village of Horní Bradlo and further along the green to Polom nature reserve with the trunks of massive old trees, which once formed part of the extensive medieval “Libečský hvozd”. From Polom we continue under Zuberský vrch (650 m above sea level) with a lookout tower to Zubří village with a well-preserved ensemble of folk architecture, near which there is a nature reserve of the same name, and from there to the town Market Kamenice associated with the work of the writer Karel Václav Rais.

From Trhová Kamenice we will set off along the green valley of the Chrudimka River along the Mlýnský and Zadní ponds to the village Free HamryIt is a village conservation area with a unique ensemble of folk architecture, including the original hamr, which is part ofCollection of folk buildings of the Vysočina region, which is located in the following village Merry Hill. We will visit this open-air museum of folk architecture and continue along the meandering Chrudimka River to Králova Pila. In this context, we will recall Antonín Chittussi's painting "Chrudimka Valley" (1887), with the figure of a pilgrim, in which the painter uniquely expressed the humid atmosphere of the fresh green summer landscape after rain with a haze floating over the forests. We will end the day either by spending the night at the pond at the Na Dolíku Forest or we will continue along the green path through Vítanov (where Chittussi's follower, the painter František Kaván, worked in the years 1904-1922) to Hlinsko, where we will possibly spend the night in a tourist hostel.

Day: Wednesday, July 23 (20 km):

Early in the morning we will set off either from Hlinsko along the blue trail to Hamry and from there to the village of Lány and from there further along the green trail to Stone,near which we will visit Vojtěch's Hill (674 m above sea level) with a wide circular viewpoint and the famous Volák's Hill, which is directly connected with the work of the painter Antonín SlavíčekWe will also visit the local Antonín Slavíček Gallery.

The writer KV Rais inspired this painter to stay in Kameničky with his work. Slavíček lived and worked here continuously from 1903 to 1907. He was fascinated by the harsh, authentic life of the local poor people, deeply connected with the fate of the local landscape, which resonated with Slavíček's own creative ethos. In his paintings, the artist captured the simple, austere beauty of the rural landscape and the greatness and beauty of the fate of rural people. In monumental paintings such as "U nás v Kameničky" he achieved a generous symbolic generalization of this motif as the "journey of life". In small sketches from the end of this creative stage of his, Slavíček achieved a remarkable artistic shortcut and a relaxation of the painterly style, which already have a thoroughly modern character. In the afternoon, we will return from Kameničky via an alternative route (the green one) back to Hlinsko and from there in the evening by train via Pardubice back to Prague.

Program

If we can, we will try to see the exhibition of the German painter Maxmilián Haushofer (21.6.-7.9.) and his students at the Municipal Museum and Gallery in Hlinsko on the last day of our trip. Maxmilián Haushofer (1811-1866) was a professor of landscape painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and his students included Julius Mařák and Adolf Kosárek.

Accommodations

We do not make any reservations in advance. If possible, we sleep outside under the open sky. However, if you want to arrange accommodation in a hostel or in a private house - the first day at the Seč Dam and the second day in Svobodne Hamry or Hlinsko - please arrange it yourself in advance. The cheapest accommodation in Hlinsko is in Chalupa na Betlém (for 250 CZK): Eliška Březinová (608 566 002). For further information, please contact the Tourist Information Centre in Hlinsko.

Transport

Train connection: Prague – Ronov nad Doubravou / Monday, July 21: departure from Prague main station: 8:00amarrival in Čáslav: 9:06am, departure 9:14amarrival in Ronov nad Doubravou: 9:38am

Hlinsko – Prague / Wednesday, July 23: departure from Hlinsko: 18:58arrival in Pardubice: 20:13, departure: 20:18arrival in Prague main station: 21:21

Contact and further information

Jiří Zemánek, email: sarvanga@centrum.cz, mobile: 777 117 466Tomáš Hrůza, email: tomashruza@gmail.com, mobile: 775 052 607