Broumovské stěny

Broumov Walls


Useful Information

Location:
(50.564791, 16.266911)
Open: no restrictions.
[2020]
Fee: free.
[2020]
Classification: GorgeGorge
Light: n/a
Dimension:  
Guided tours: self guided
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:  
Address: Broumovské stěny, Správa CHKO Broumovsko, Ledhujská 59, 549 54 Police nad Metují, Tel: +420-491-549-020, Fax: +420-491-549-034. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1723-33 Baroque chapel built.
1856 tourist cottage in Swiss style built.

Description

At Broumovské stěny (Broumov Walls) brown sandstone with cracks running northwest to southeast is weathered into parallel elongated rock formations with gorges inbetween. The rock formations are found on the 13 km long ridge of the Broumov hills, which lies southeast of Broumov and follows the same northwest to southeast direction. The best way to see the rocks is by walking from one end to the other, but the 15 km long trail is at least a half day walk. If you just want to see the most spectacular parts we suggest to visit the Slavenské hřiby near the hamlet Slavný and the Hvězda area.

Hvězda is located northeast of the hamlet Hlavňov in the middle of the ridge. There is a paved road which ends at the parking lot. Hvězda has numerous sights, like the Kovářova rokle (Kovář's gorge), which is a walking trail and not a gorge. The Panny Marie Sněžné (Our Lady of the Snows) is a baroque chapel with quadratic ground floor, built by Kiliána Ignáce Dientzehofera (actually Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer) from 1723 to 1733. Dientzenhofer was a famous Bohemian architect of the Baroque era, when the area belonged to the Austro Hungarian Empire. In 1856 a tourist cottage was built in the style of Swiss houses, or at least what the Czech believed to be Swiss. East of the chapel is the most excessive field of rock formations at the Broumovské stěny.

Slavenské hřiby (Slaven mushrooms) is named after the hamlet Slavný. At the eastern end is a parking lot, from here its 800 m walk to the field of rock formations. The most spectacular sight here are mushroom shaped rocks, softer sandstone forming the hem and harder sandstone which erodes slower forming a cap with a bigger diameter. The geologic term for such structures is selective weathering and it is quite common in sandstone.