Region of Ústí - Czech republic

REGION OF ÚSTÍ

Its border is formed from prevailing part by mountain range of  Krušné hory (Ore Mountains) with the biggest peak of Klínonec (1244 m).


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CZ: Ustek, Helfenburk and Calvary in Ostry
Published: 23.8.2015
A small town surrounded with hop gardens in the Central Bohemian Uplands. It has fantastic atmosphere. This is Ustek. Filmmakers love its authenticity as well as the ruin of castle Helfenburk.

Mirove Namesti is in the town’s core. There is church of St Peter and Paul and the Pikartska Tower. Maybe you remember a scene when actors ran before Russian tanks or Zuzana Norisova’s dance in film Rebelove. Background to these scenes is the town’s landmark reservation. The narrow street behind the parish office appeared in about five movies. Arcaded houses on square’s western side will give an impression that the Meddle-Ages still go on. Above rocky vault there are in-built stone and Upper Lusatian houses. Ustek was given a status of a town in 1361. However, the place has been settled for much longer time period.

kostel sv. Petra a Pavlapamátkově chráněné domy na náměstí

First traces of human settlement were carved in sandstone. There is the street of the so-called Bird Houses. They create wooden extensions to three to four storey rock dwellings and look like bird nests. On one side they stand on the edge of the cliff, on the other they look like very small houses where you can easily reach the roof. They are still populated. If you go through any of these houses to its backyard you find yourself in the network of terraces connected with staircase. Sometimes they are restaurants, some are just unkempt but with magnificent view of the valley and the town.

Ptačí domkyúštěcké náměstí s kostelem sv. Petra a Pavla, vpravo v průhledu je na obzoru vidět kalvárie

Local underground is legendary. There are three to four story cellars under the whole square. There used to by variously passable. When you talk to anybody he would tell you he knew somebody who used to ran in these cellar when a boy or a girl and even got to the Calvary through one corridor! (Or to Helfenburg). There are local urban legends. But who knows?

However, you don’t look for a underground corridor leading to Calvary. Take a road instead. The baroque place of pilgrimage built in the early 18th century is easy to see from the square. Ostre village is about 2 kilometers away. From there, you climb a steep hill following the way of the cross ending with a massive staircase. Before, there were statues on it. The stairs end on the top at two symmetrical churches. Between them, there is a symbolic chapel of the Holy Grave. The place was picked perfectly. As it was normal in the baroque times. The vista here is perfect to the local landscape, Ustek and Chmelar Lake, and Sedlo Hill. The Society for Renoval of Ustek is saving the Calvary and churches short of total desolation. The place was so overgrown with vegetation before 2005 it was hard to even see. And the movie where the place had a „role“? Hlidac No. 47 directed by Filip Renc.

Calvary that is called Kostelicky u Usteka a view atop of the place of pilgrimage of Ustek and Sedlo Hill

In three kilometers (you have to walk there) lays a picturesque ruin of Helfenburk, a 14th century castle, known also as Hradek u Usteka. The compound’s parameters are literally fairy-tale like – still existing outside fortification, remains of a palace with 57-meter deep well, and a tower. Climb up in the tower along a narrow staircase. Take a look around forest. You can easily see a Calvary. Once you watch Anicka s Liskovymi Orisky tale with your kids, or Destova Vila, or famous historical film Nehynouci Laska you will surely recognize Helfenburk.

Helfenburk, věž a vstuní portálvnější hradby a zbytky hradupohled z věže na zbytky hradního paláce

There was a Jewish community in Ustek. As everywhere else its fate was dark. However, the synagogue remained there. Recently it was renovated as well as a Jewish cemetery. Years of neglect have ended when the Federation of Jewish Communities took care of it. There is a marked trail behind the city which heads to Lhota. There are infoboards with photographs and writings what happened to Jewish sights and pious places in the Region of Usti.

synagoga v Úštěkužidovský hřbitov, založený v 16. století

And one last tip: it would be a shame not to go several hundred meters to a Jewish cemetery in Lhota. There is a preserved square with Upper Lusatian houses, spacy belfry, and a Baroque column (wayside shrine from 1773), the time when it was common to build small shrine on a place where injustice happened.     

 

podstávkový dům ve Lhotě u ÚštěkaBaroque wayside shrine and a belfry on the square, Lhota u Usteka

GPS: 50°35'04.8"N 14°20'36.7"E

Text and photo: Radka Snizkova


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