Bezděz Castle

Author: Profimedia

We can’t start with anything other than the locality that inspired Macha to his most famous poem – to May. It is a castle Bezděz and its surroundings, od Prague about 80 kilometers away. Macha a picturesque Gothic ruin, already built by Přemysl Otakar II. According to researcher and director of the Academia publishing house, Jiří Padevět, he visited the opposite. He was so enchanted by the massive walls, the dominant tower and, above all, the magnificent view of lake, which is called today Machovo.

“Bezděz certainly represented Mácha great inspiration. A direct part is the prose Evening at Bezděz, which is Obrazy ze života života, as Bezděz and its surroundings most probably inspired Mácha to write Mája as well, “States Padevět in the book Journeys with Karel Hynek Mácha. The curious thing is that Mácha Bezděz visited more during the summer months.

From Prague you can get to Bezděz by train with a transfer in Mladá Boleslav in two hours. From the train station to the castle it is then about an hour’s journey. An alternative is the road to Doksy, where there is a direct connection from Prague, and from there a roughly two-hour walk leads to Bezděz, specifically through the so-called Mácha’s road.

Kokorin Castle

Author: Profimedia.cz

Macha did not live to be very old, so he didn’t even have time to write that much. He managed to finish in his lifetime single novel which deals with revenge for love, and whose story takes place in the castle and in the castle grounds, which was the forerunner of another of the notorious castles in Bohemia. Kokořín. He also visited Macha more often, also here “from 20 to 21 August 1833 he spent the night, ”Says Padevět. However, the poet did not see the ornate castle we know today.

“At the time of Mach’s visits, Kokořín was a ruin that had been dilapidated for about two hundred years. The castle tower was inaccessible, “says Padevět. The castle fell into disrepair by the will of Emperor Ferdinand II. after the Thirty Years’ War, when he ordered that the castle not be maintained or rebuilt. Its current “glory”, and that there is a reason to mention the glory, although it is a popular tourist destination, began in the early 20th century, when the castle was reconstructed to its current form. And what novel did Mach have in mind when visiting the ruins? “Kokořín and Kokořinský Důl most likely became the inspiration and venue of Gypsy prose. “

And where does the only surviving novel of the famous romantic go? is about 80 major kilometers from the city, issue? Best by bus via Mšeno or via Mělník, while the journey may take an hour or more with the transfer. If anyone would like to prefer the train, it is about two hours from Mšen to the castle. However, the trip is worth not only the castle itself, but also its surroundings, which, among other things, also the lines of the so-called Mach’s way.

View from the cross on the very top of the rock.

Author: Profimedia.cz, Blesk archive

Near Prague there is a small village, where Macha often and often went. When we take into account its picturesqueness and the beauty of the surroundings, we can only help but wonder. His name is Saint John under the Rock and is best known for the local monastery, over which a massive limestone rock arches, and in which there is a pilgrimage cave. The scenery attracts thousands of tourists, and it was no different 200 years ago, when St. John under the Rock served the curious excursionists from the nearby area. Karel Hynek Mácha was one of them. It is claimed that the visit stuck in it so much that he picked up a quill, a paper and wrote…

“High where the rock in the stellar is proudly steep, whose moss-like peak carries a cross on its back.”

“Apparently, under the impression of visiting this place, Macha wrote the poem St. Ivan, which he recited for the first time in the Klementinum in 1831 and which was praised by Josef Jungmann, “Mentions Padevět, a well-known national revivalist. The praise encouraged her so much that she decided to take an even stronger step, without which Maya would not have been possible. “St. Ivan was also Mach’s first published poem, ”Adds Padevět. It was published at the end of 1831, Evening Classification.

As said, St. Ivan pod Skalou is located near Prague – it is about 20 kilometers from the western border of the metropolis. But even though they come here, you won’t get a direct connection here – unless with an offense in either Loděnice or Beroun. There are already direct connections from Prague, both bus and train. Moreover, it is not far from Beroun to Svatý Jan pod Skalou, so there is one a five-kilometer walk can be tempting in nice weather.

A historical procession led by Charles IV will set out for Karlštejn.

Author: Blesk: Michal Protivanský

Romantic souls in the 19th century often wandered around castles AND ruins. Mácha visited the business card, dozens of them in the Czech Republic and even thought about their visits kept records. As in the case of Karlštejn and the older Křivoklát, which are still touristically grateful destinations. And Mach – as usual – was offered to give them a few lines. Not verse. The poet planned to write a novel tetralogy Kat, set before the Hussite wars. Each part was “dedicated” to a specific castle – Křivoklát, Karlštejn, Vyšehrad and Valdek.

“Karlštejn “probably visited before 1831, ”Says Padevět. Based on the memories of one of Mach’s friends, we can also find out where they came from Prague. “Probably through the Újezd ​​gate through Malá Chuchla and Třebotov and in the dark they arrived in the village of Budňany, where they slept in the gamekeeper’s lodge. The next morning they arrived in Karlštejn. ”Mácha did not have time to finish the short story. Which is not to say about the short story dedicated Křivoklátu. He visited Mácha in May 1833, at a time when the castle was in very poor condition after a fire in 1826. The tour of Macha undoubtedly inspired the writing of Křivoklad’s prosewhich was to become the first part of the intended novel cycle, “mentions Padevět.

Both castles are within easy driving distance of Prague, and their surroundings are tempting to take active walks. Buses from Kladno or Rakovník run to Křivoklát, while there is also a direct connection from Prague to the railway station in Podhradí, or with a transfer in Beroun or Rakovník. It is also possible to go directly by train to Karlštejn.

Radobýl Hill, from which Mácha saw the fire in Litoměřice

Author: Profimedia

The poet with a romantic soul in his life was attracted by the hills, various hills, mountains and from which there was a view of the enchanting Czech landscape. She sometimes inspired him in his work. It should have been no different in the case of the hill Radobylwhich with its 399 meters above sea level switches off above Litoměřice. Is this name familiar to you? Should. However, Mach’s visit to Radobýl is also often called fatal.

“Mácha climbed Radobýl on a trip from Litoměřice on October 23, 1836. From the top in the evening he saw a fire on the outskirts of Litoměřice, which then helped to extinguish,“Says Padevět. Mach extinguished the fire and it was unlikely to happen to him swollen polluted water that caused him cholera. He soon died here on November 6, 1836 in Litoměřice. At the top of the hill at the same time “according to some biographers, he wrote his last poem, The Road from Bohemia. “

As mentioned, Radobýl is located near Litoměřice, see specifically the yellow hiking trail, which has its origins at the railway station. However, it is only possible to get there from Prague with a transfer. On there is a direct connection from Holešovice to the bus station.

A view of the top of the highest Czech mountain in the summer, when most tourists move here.

Author: Profimedia.cz, archive

What would it be like to travel through the beauties of Bohemia if it did not end up at the top. Which was especially true during the time that Karel Hynek Mácha experienced – no cars, no planes, no trains, but only your own feet and enthusiasm, quite respectable. Like many enthusiasts today, Macha did two centuries ago did not miss the hike to the highest mountain in the Czech Republic, Sněžka. He first visited her on August 28, 1833, and even this visit to the Giant Mountains did not go unnoticed by his writing skills.

“It was a cold night; The pilgrim walked a narrow step from the mountains through the cleft between the mountains. Sněžka stood opposite him in all her high height, now only a lone cross stood on top of her snow-covered, “Reads his short text. “Under the impression of the first trip, prose entered Pilgrimage of the Krkonoše Mountains, written in four versions in September 1833, “states Padevět. It is a small prose that depicts a pilgrim’s journey to the Giant Mountains, where he finds a mystical monastery just below Sněžka. “In Mácha’s time in the Giant Mountains, there are almost no buildings designed to house pilgrims. Exceptions were the primitive shelter at the Elbe waterfall and the so-called hospice on Sněžka, adapted from the abolished chapel of St. Lawrence around 1824. “

The Krkonoše Mountains and Sněžka are a little more far from Prague. About 160 kilometers. However, they travel from Prague to Pec pod Sněžkou on a daily basis bus linesThey spend about three hours driving. It was harder for Macha, the journey from Prague took him several days.