Golden Trail over the Land of Castles
The "Golden Trail over the Land of Castles" with a total length of 89 km from Budyně nad Ohří to Úštěk connects most of the important castle monuments in the area of the Central Bohemian Uplands.
The Central Bohemian Uplands are surely a region with a unique atmosphere of beautiful nature, high basalt mounds and - above all - the land of castle ruins that crown these magnificant peaks. And those wonderful views of the region… you will love them! You will not see anything similar in the Czech lands. Moreover, few people realize that the Central Bohemian Uplands is the place where the oldest Czech legends take place and that it is also the only region where the invincible Czech military leader Jan Žižka from Trocnov imprinted his strategic genius on his own castle - Kalich.
Stops
Třebenice
The history of Třebenice goes back a long way- sometime before 1173 it was given as a market village by Vladislav I. to the monastery of St. George at the Prague Castle.
In 1227 Třebenice was mentioned as a small town in examined documents, in 1299 it officially gained the majesty of a town with the right of the throat, and since 1433 town books have been kept. In 1420, Třebenice was acquired by the Kaplíř family from Sulevice, who lived in the nearby Košťálov castle and thanks to their initiative Třebenice acquired its town emblem. An important family, including the famous defender of Vienna against the Turks, Zdeněk Kašpar Kaplíř of Sulevice (1611 - 1686), played a key role in the history of the town until 1686. Another notable figure in the history of Třebenice is the national awakener, founder of the Czech school and a credit union, MUDr. Václav Pařík (1839 - 1901). Pařík was also a long-time mayor of the town and initiated the establishment of the Czech Garnet Museum in 1872! At that time, Třebenice was also famous for its fruit growing. Around 1895 the first Czech fruit processing factory was established here. The dominant feature of the town is the parish church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, which was completed in 1601 and built on the site of an older building. The early Baroque cemetery chapel of the Holy Trinity with a wooden bell tower dates from 1692–1696, the rectory is also Baroque, from the 18th century. The youngest sacral monument is the former evangelical church from 1902, where the Museum of the Czech Garnet and a permanent exhibition of castles in the Central Bohemian Uplands, is today. A very valuable movable monument is the unique Třebenický hymnal, which was written by Matouš Ornys from Lindperk in the years 1574 - 1578 at the initiative of the town. Today, the city is one of the popular tourist gates to the Central Bohemian Uplands.