“That horizon of fate that you follow with all your might Brighter every morning Lost every night Just further and further away The evening that drives the night The better day prepares for us” — Pierre Reverdy The Walker

“You are my joy, O nature, I will honor you forever: let ten thousand candles shine in the marble hall, proudly depicted with jewels! Let the gambling halls resound with people, let the courtiers always abound with lightning, I am blissful under the shelter of your cloak, enjoying the sweetness of loving silence under the gazebo.” — Milota Zdirad Polák, The Majesty of Nature

A walk through Prague on Monday, August 20th

We will meet at 10 am at Charles Square at the lower circular fountain, near the house where the poet Karel Hynek Mácha lived. From here we will set off on the planned route paths of poetry of Prague poets to Vyšehrad and further along the Vltava River to the National Theatre and from there to Kampa to the house where the poet Vladimír Holan lived. Here under the “Holan plane tree” and later in the Alchymista café on Letná, we will commemorate the work of two important Czech poets of the 19th century. From the birth of Mácha’s important predecessor Miloty Zdirad Polák (1788-1856) 230 years have passed this year. Zdirad Polák is considered the first significant Czech Renaissance poet. His remarkable poetic epic The majesty of nature, reflecting the then-current philosophical interest in a return to nature, was considered by Josef Jungman himself to be the “first fruit of modern Czech poetry.” This year will also mark 200 years since the birth of Mácha’s follower, the early Renaissance poet Václav Bolemír Nebeský (1818-1882). Nebesky's philosophically-inflected poetic composition Opponents, illustrating Hegel's concept of historical development, is a direct continuation of Mácha's May. Moreover, Nebeský was born in Nové Dvory near Kokořín Castle, in the landscape that so inspired Mácha's peak poetic work. We will also remember the greatest landscape painter of German Romanticism Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), his work connected to the North Bohemian landscape of the Lusatian Mountains, which we will visit during the walk. From Kampa we will head via Petřín Hill and Prague Castle to Letná to the Alchymista café, where we will end the walk.

“Silence of the wheels, that you could hear the golden stars walking in the sky – hear the moons of silky shine wading in the lake! Silence of the wheels, that you could hear the secret dreams of the grave sleeper – hear the dead drops of time, which the eye of the universe cries! (…) Only my heart keeps beating, beat after beat chases – like the clocks of the universe, that ring their own bells!” — Václav Bolemír Nebeský, Songs

Wandering

Day 1 Tuesday, August 21 (25 km)

We will travel to Mělník by bus from Prague via Ládví (see connections). We will meet at 8 am above the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava rivers at the Mělník Castle, from where at 8:10 am we will set off on a hike along the Mácha Trail (red tourist trail): via Chloumeto, Lhotka, Štampach pond to KokorinaHere we turn onto the green trail that will lead us to a remarkable the rock castle of Nedamy, which served as a shelter during the Thirty Years' War. From here we will head to the ruins of a former rich and impressive Baroque estate Novy Dvurwhere the poet was born 200 years ago VBNeleven. From here we will continue along the green path through Jestrebice to Vojtechova and continue along the red trail along the familiar path through Paradise and the top Drnclik (481 m above sea level) on BunWe will sleep either under the open sky at the Luňák Chapel or in the Hostince pod Houskou.

"Let's run, let's run from the city to the plains, under those clear blue skies! Outside, it rewards its guests with its pleasant cheerfulness. Around the city, a dusty road stretches, an unhealthy stench builds there at night, a harsh breeze carries it away; outside, everything rejoices, everything sings, in the midnight sky, a fiery wheel is already blooming. A bursting flower breathes its fragrance, a youthful day ennobles the world with beauty." — Milota Zdirad Polák, The Majesty of Nature

Day 2 on Wednesday, August 22 (27 km)

At 8 o'clock in the morning we will set off across Borejov and The eater to WindowsFrom Okeni we will continue along the road to Fields and from there along Poselský rybník to Šibeniční vrch, to Poslov Mlýn and further along the red sign of Mácha's path to Docs, where we will have lunch and visit the Karel Hynek Mácha Memorial. From Doksy we will follow the yellow trail to Břehynský pond, where we will swim. From there we will continue below Pecopala Through the Hradčany beech forests to Délová cesta and then follow the blue trail to the Pope's Ridge; then through Dlouha roklí and Měděný dol to Kraví roklí in Hradčany walls except for Hradčany viewpointWe spend the night under an overhang above the Ploučnice River.

Day 3 on Thursday, August 23 (25 km)

At 8 am in the morning we will head to Hradčany and from there follow the yellow trail through the meanders of the Ploučnice River to Borec Forest, in which we will switch to the red one, which will lead us to Mimoň; here we will see the early Baroque church. We will continue along the red one along Vranovská alley to Vranov and from there over the Vranovské rocks to the top of the distinctive basalt hill Ralsko (696 m above sea level), which is the dominant feature of the local region. From here there are wonderful distant views of the Lusatian and Jizera Mountains, the Giant Mountains, the Czech Central Mountains, the Bohemian Paradise and the Macha Region. From Ralsko we descend along the red trail to the village Newspapers under Ralsk and on to The Ploučnice Gap (Devil's Hole). This 150 m long gorge, modified in the 16th century with an additional 55 m long tunnel, is an important cultural and technical monument (it was previously used to operate a hammer mill) and is considered one of the most interesting places on the Ploučnice River (see picture on the next page). We will continue to Stráž pod Ralskem, where we will see a number of interesting monuments - for example, the murals by the painter Vojmír Vokolek in the church of St. Sigismund. Finally, we will go around Horečský pond to Hamra on the lake if Hamer Lakefrom where we climb to the top Devin (435 m above sea level) with the ruins of a castle, one of the largest in Bohemia. Děvín is part of the Děvín, Ostrý, Schachstein natural monument with peak beech forests and relict pines. We will spend the night in the area of the castle ruins.

Day 4 on Friday, August 24 (25 km)

In the morning we will follow the red trail around Děvínský pond to Osice with a number of remarkable monuments – the sculpture of the Three Saints from the workshop of Matthias B. Braun, the obelisk of the poet Friedrich Schiller. From here we will continue along the red trail around Jenišovský mill, where the main source of the Ploučnice River is located, through Jan's Mine, a foothill village Dolení Paseky (summer residence of writer Karolina Světlá), hill Dovecote (562 m above sea level) to Prussian Cross and on to the top Ještěd (1012 m above sea level), the highest mountain of the Ještěd Ridge. Here is the famous 94 m high modern building of the lookout tower and radio communication center in the shape of a hyperboloid by architect Karel Hubáček, which uniquely completes the overall shape of the mountain. From Ještěd we continue along the red ridge Ještěd Ridge over Little Ještěd (754 m above sea level), Little Lime (687 m above sea level) and Lawn except for Great Limestone (790 m above sea level), where there is a nature reserve with a canopy of mountaintop scree forest. We will spend the night at Velké Vápenné or in a meadow just below the forest above the village of Jitrava.

Day 5 on Saturday, August 25 (25 km)

In the morning we will set off along the red trail and after Jitravský vrch we will enter the Lusatian Mountains Protected Landscape Area (PLKO). We will walk through High (545 m), Beautiful mine, we will visit the castle ruins Vetrov until we get to PetrovicFrom here we follow the blue trail across the state border to Lückendorf, the eastern part of the spa town of Oybín, dominated by a sandstone table mountain with the ruins of a medieval castle and monastery, which was fundamentally rebuilt by Charles IV in the 14th century. The Gothic interiors of the castle and the monastery church inspired CD Friedrich to create three remarkable paintings, the most significant of which is Hutten's grave (1823) and Dreaming (1835). We will see the castle and the monastery and then follow the blue trail to Forest (749 m), from there continue along the blue and red to the castle Falkenstein except for Puddle (792 m), where we spend the night.

“The silence of the Sabbath had broken, the silence of the autumn evening. The sun had retreated to the mountains and its shine, breaking through the bark, was purplely showered through the dry leaves and rained down silent blessings; it was just the time to die and the place was just the right place for that: Dying autumn and the reddening of the plains, the canopy of those shady forest trees, the silence around as pious contemplation, …” — Václav Bolemír Nebeský, Protichůdci  

Day 6 on Sunday, August 26 (15 km)

In the morning we will set off following the red trail to Upper Light, from here to Dry hill (641 m), further to the rock massif with a rock gate with the remains of a medieval castle Milstein (562 m) and over Rousínov and Clamp to a beautiful mountain Key (759 m), which CD Friedrich depicted in a unique way in one of his paintings. From Klíč, where there is a beautiful view, we follow the blue trail to Novy Borfrom where we will return to Prague by bus. (An alternative route from Luž to Nový Bor leads via Tolštejn, Jedlová and Velký buk – length 22 km).

“Heaven, the most glorious wonder of immeasurable allness, what slave of death can adequately describe your grandeur? Where can I find colors to criticize, where can I get all those feelings? If I were to dip my pen in the fire that shines in your midst, if everything were to ignite in me the creative power that belongs to me, if the holy Seraphim were to descend from your paradises to help me, if I were to find the peoples of all languages of the beautiful poet, I would not even give a suggestion of the shadow of glorious grandeur. (…) Only to you, the spirits there are pure, the inner qualities are knowledgeable, priority with excellence, wholeness, agreement and perfection, we moths living in dust drown in thought, we want to find a harbor in the sea, in which there is no shore.” — Milota Zdirad Polák, The Majesty of Nature (The Glory of Heaven)

NOTICE

If you do not go with us for the entire journey, you can join us anywhere and go with us for as long as you want. We do not provide overnight accommodation, we sleep under the open sky. Everyone is responsible for their own journey. We ask for your tolerance towards other pilgrims.

Bus connection

August 21st from Prague to Mělník: Prague, Ládví / departure: 7:00 or 7:10 – Mělník, bus station / arrival: 7:44 

Bus connection on August 26 from Nový Bor to Prague: Nový Bor, bus station / departure: 15:55 – Prague, Holešovice station / arrival: 17:45 Nový Bor, bus station / departure: 16:44 – Prague, Holešovice station / arrival: 18:20

CONTACT

• Jiří Zemánek, sarvanga@centrum.cz, mobile: 777 117 466
• Tomáš Hrůza, tomashruza@gmail.com, mobile: 775 052 607
• Karel Čtveracek, ctv@seznam.cz, 603 355 072  

I believe that much good would come from a change in attitude if tourists became pilgrims again.” 

Rupert Sheldrake