Kleť Look Out Tower

The other building, observatory, is situated in the neighbourhood of look out tower. Inside, you have the chance to follow the comets on the sky or Sun spots. Kleť and its environs allure the tourists all year round, first of all, thanks to marvellous panoramatic circular view. Except Novohradské Mountains, Bohemia Forest, Central Bohemia Highland, Brdy Hills, the corners of Bohemia-Moravia Highlands, Třeboň and Budějovice Basins, you can see, under favourable weather conditions, the Alp peaks of Dachstein or Grossglockner. How to get there? You follow tourist trails from such places, as Český Krumlov, Holubov, Křemže, Zlatá Koruna, etc. You can also use the service of rope railway from Krasetín. From upper station to look out tower, there are only three minutes´ walk.

The tower is twenty metres high and you have to overcome 101 stages, in order to get to the top. On your way upstairs, you can admire an interesting exposition. On monitors, placed in ground floor and on the first floor, you can get acquiantance with fifty most known representatives of fauna and flora, living in Blanský les. On the next floor, you find glazed holes in bottom, where you can follow animals´ traces as well as some representatives of insect world. So, you will be informed that the area is populated with pigeons, wood-owls or linx. Finally, you reached the plateau. Along battlement, you can follow, according to the tables, placed in due directions, some important tapped points in the countryside.

Look out tower was built by Prince Joseph John Nepomuk Schwarzenberg in 1825, in honour of monarch, Emperor Franz Joseph. So, this outlook became the oldest one not only in Czech Republic, but also in Central Europe. One hundred years later, a cottage for tourist was built at its foot. The Princes Therese Schwarzenberg was nominated as its patron. The restaurant as well as accommodation equipment are open for public all year round. Not far from the cottage, you can find the highest situated sun-dials in our country.

A couple of steps from look out tower, you find yourselves at the gate of observatory. To tell the truth, this building is also the highest one of such type, situated in Czech Republic. The observatory was constructed in 1957. At the same time, it is one from eight stops along Kleť educational path. The cupola has the dimension of eight metres, and two telescopes are in operation, for the time being. Lentil-shaped telescope, the biggest in Czech Republic, enables observation Sun spots, whereas the second one, serves to investigations. Nevertheless, main telescope of Kleť observatory, it is KLENOT (Jewel) most modern one, and the second biggest device in Czech Republic, which serves to discoveries and the investigation of near-earth asteroids, comets and transneptunic bodies. This observatory could be proud on discoveries of 929 small planets and four comets. One of them has the name after Mr.Miloš Tichý, observatory ldirector, with marking 196P/Tichý.

Text: Denisa Arvajová

Translation: ing. Jan Jonáš

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Marzper, č.2, č.3, č.4, Chmee2