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The Bohemian Paradise in Czechia (the Czech Republic) is a place where you become a child again. Or feel like Indiana Jones. You can find rocks of bizarre shape, labyrinths of moss-covered cliffs, lakes and waterfalls in a relatively compact area. And if that's not enough, history lovers can admire old castles and everyone will enjoy a walk in one of the cute towns of the region.
Read more: anyroadanywhere.com/bohemian-paradise/
An image of the amazing Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have never actually processed a colour image of my lucked out misty morning, slightly concerned it came out so ‘blue’, but this is what it looked like. A wonderful mornings photography
751232 pauses at Martinice v Krkonoších whilst working a 2 day railtour around north eastern Bohemia
Podyjí National Park (Czech: Národní park Podyjí) is a national park in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It protects near-natural forests along the deep Dyje River valley. It is a biom whose well-preserved state is unique in Central Europe. It connects to the smaller Nationalpark Thayatal in Austria.
Podyjí National Park is characterized by extraordinary scenery, being home to features such as rocky amphitheatres, cliffs, meanders, detritus fields, impervious ravines, several types of heatland adorned with muilti-coloured layers of thermophilic plants, or alluvial plains around the river Dyje. The division of the valley along the river Dyje creates two distinctive ecological regions and thus contributes to the high biological diversity of the park.
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Did make a weekend (boat) trip across the Podyjí national park in late October to find it empty and silent on and around the Dyje river.
We were lucky with the weather: peak of autumn colours and delicate sunlight created a really fairy-tale atmosphere. It was (sometimes) cold on the river, however still very beautiful.
The branchline from Tábor to Bechyně is unusual in that is electrified at 1500 V DC but due to be rewired to the standard 25 kV AC in the coming years. Due to its unique electrification system most services are operated by a dedicated fleet of 3 class 113 locos. 113003 is seen arriving at Slapy with Os28417 16:02 Bechyně to Tábor
Terezin Fortress, Terezin, Czechia
This balcony is attached to a building in the Terezin Fortress aka the Small Fortress. During World War II, the fortress served as a prison for the Prague Gestapo from 10 June 1940 until May 1945. Unlike the Terezín Ghetto, where the Jews were imprisoned, the Small Fortress served as a prison for the political opponents of the Nazi German regime, Czech resistance members, some British POWs, and other people from the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, France, Italy etc. Throughout the operation of the Gestapo prison, around 32,000 people (including 5,000 women) were incarcerated here.
The Small Fortress had the character of a transitional prison, from which the prisoners were gradually sent to concentration camps. Around 2,600 prisoners were killed in the fortress through hunger, torture and poor hygiene. Thousands died after being transported from Terezín to concentration camps and elsewhere.
The purpose of the balcony room above is unclear, but it contained several plants and a microscope. However, it is hard to imagine that it was used to improve the lives of the inmates.
According to local legend, Helfštýn is named after the robber Helfried of Linva, who founded it. The castle was probably built in the last quarter of the 13th century. Around 1320 Vok of Kravař, a member of a prominent Moravian noble family, became the owner of the castle. Helfštýn remained in the possession of the Kravař family for more than a hundred years and underwent far-reaching structural changes during this period. Construction work began on a larger scale in the first half of the 14th century, but the main reconstruction of the castle into a Gothic fortress did not take place until the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. The Kravařs mainly improved the fortifications of Helfštýn. They replaced the makeshift fortification of the old parkland with a thick stone wall with four bastions, built a prismatic tower over the entrance to the castle itself and secured it with a drawbridge, built a fortified forecourt on the south side and cut the ridge of the hill with a moat carved into the rock.
The era of the Pernštejn family
In 1474, William of Pernštejn took over the castle estate and proceeded to its further reconstruction. In the last quarter of the 15th century,
Helfštýn Castle was enlarged with a thoroughly fortified, extensive farm forecourt (completed in 1480) and another forecourt, which formed a new outpost defending the entire enlarged building. At the same time, the fortifications of the old Kravaře castle were improved with bastions and a new system of towers and gates. The castle's ground plan was definitively given an elongated shape, and in its external form the perfect fortification system significantly overlapped all the other architectural elements.
Renaissance reconstruction
At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the inner core of the castle was rebuilt into a Renaissance residence. The old castle palace was demolished, along with part of its original Gothic fortifications, and a magnificent Renaissance palace was built on the vacant space, in sharp contrast to the extensive system of late Gothic fortifications that surrounded it.
The destruction of the castle
In 1656, quite extensive demolition work was carried out, which, although it did not damage the fortifications of Helfštýn too much, definitively deprived it of the character of a manor house. And thus began the long-term destruction of the castle. The destruction was accelerated in the second half of the 18th century by the Ditrichstein family with demolition works. These attempts culminated in 1817, when part of the inner castle was destroyed by artillery fire.
Present day
The present-day character of the castle is that of a fortress with six gates and a series of 18th-century buildings and ramparts. Since the 19th century, the castle has been presented as a tourist and heritage site. Nowadays it has become a natural cultural centre of the region, with various cultural events taking place here throughout the season