What’s the highest mountain or the largest city of the Czech Republic or the most elevated castle? Where is the oldest monastery that still serves its purpose and where can you find the tallest Czech building? Discover these Czech “Most” with us!
Highest Peak
With its 1603 m of height above sea level Sněžka in the Krkonoše mountains is the highest mountain of the Czech Republic. Tours to the top of Sněžka are a popular tourist attraction and if you’re not fit to walk up, you can use the cable car from the town of Pec pod Sněžkou. Besides the magnificent view the points of interest on Sněžka are the 17th century Chappel of St. Lawrence (Kaple svatého Vavřince) and the post office called Česká poštovna Anežka from the second half of the 19th century. So you can actually send a postcard from the highest point of the Czech Republic. You can check here to see the current weather on Sněžka and watch the mountain from the online cameras.
GPS: 50°44’9,340″N, 15°44’20,360″E
Largest City
No surprise there, the capital city Prague (Praha) is also the largest Czech city and the one with the most inhabitants. To get better acquainted with this city, read out Prague Essentials. You can also join us on an Afternoon Walk in Lesser Town of Prague and if you bring your kids with you, here are the places to go.
Oldest Existing Monastery
Břevnov Monastery is the oldest still serving monastery in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 993 by the duke Boleslaus II (Boleslav II.) and Adalbert (Vojtěch), the bishop of Prague. It has always been a Benedictines monastery and at the 1000th anniversary of its foundation the pope John Paul II. promoted the abbey of Břevnov to archabbey. AND this monastery is believed to be the first beer brewery in what is now the Czech Republic! The Břevnov Monastery Brewery continues this tradition.
Largest Castle
Prague Castle or Pražský hrad is not only Czechia’s largest castle but also the largest ancient castle in the world and is as such registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. We don’t know when exactly it was built but we know that it was already being used in the 9th century. It is a complex of buildings and the total area of the castle is 570 m long and 128 m wide.
Finding the castle in Prague is not difficult as it is one of the dominants of the city. It’s located in the quarter of Hradčany.
GPS: 50°5′27,8″N, 14°24′6″E
Largest Pond in the World
South Bohemia is the land of large ponds. So it comes as no surprise that the largest Czech pond is to be found here. Its name is Rožmberk and to see it you have to go to Stará Hlína (Jindřichův Hradec Dictrict). The area of the pond is 489 ha and it holds an impressive amount of water – 6,3 millions m3. Its area makes it the largest artificial pond in the world.
GPS: 49°2′50″ N, 14°46′9″ E
Largest Reservoir
The largest Czech water reservoir or přehrada is called Lipno and just like the largest pond it’s in South Bohemia reaching into the cadaster of several municipalities. Its area is 48,7 km2. The “South-Bohemian sea” is the vacation destination of many Czech tourists.
GPS: 48°41′10″ N, 14°5′7″ E
Deepest Abyss
The Hranice Abyss is the deepest Czech abyss and in fact the deepest freshwater flooded pit cave in the world. The non-flooded depth is of 69,5 meters and the estimated flooded depth (2020) is 1000 meters. If you want to see the abyss, you have to travel to the Hranice karst in the District of Přerov (Olomouc region). The abyss is accessible, you can actually look straight down the karst hole. You can hike to it following the red or green tourist trail from the town center of Hranice. If you go by train, you can get off on the stop Teplice nad Bečvou.
GPS:49°31’55,870″N, 17°45’2,530″E
Longest River
The river Vltava or also Moldau rises in the Bohemian Forest (Šumana), crosses Bohemia and merges with the river Labe (Elbe) in Mělník. The length is 433 km. Vltava is often used for rafting and probably the most popular place to rent a boat and go rafting on Vltava is the town of Český Krumlov. Did you know that Rosamund Pike, who currently lives in the Czech Republic (2020 and 2021 – filming) went rafting in Český Krumlov? She talks about her experience here.
If you want to reach the place where the river rises, you have to visit the village of Kvilda which, by the way, we will talk about a bit later in this article.
GPS of the Vltava source: 48°58’29″N, 13°33’39″E
Tallest Building
The tallest building in the Czech Republic is called AZ Tower and it’s located in Brno. Not in the center though so you could miss it on your tour. It is visible from the Špilberk castle gardens though. The construction was finished in 2013 and the building is 111 meters tall with its 30 floors.
GPS: 49°10′33″N, 16°36′20″E
Northmost Municipality
If you want to visit the northmost municipality of the Czech Republic, look up the village called Lobendava in the Děčín district. If you look at the map of the Czech Republic, you’ll notice two camel-like humps in the north. They’re called hooks and the first one – Šluknov Hook (Šluknovský výběžek) – is where you can find Lobendava. Although it is a small village, there are a few things to see, most of them of religious-historical character. You can also discover the beautiful nature of the north, for example, on the nearby mountain Buková Hora – 512 m ASL – which separates this part of the Czech Republic from Germany.
GPS: 51°1′10″N, 14°18′52″E
Southmost Municipality
If, on the contrary, you wish to go as south as inhabited Czech Republic goes, Horní Dvořiště is your destination. About 40 minutes south from Český Krumlov, this village is the last place with people you’ll see before crossing to Austria. It’s a quiet little place founded before 1278 and what is has to see is the typical things of a Czech village.
GPS: 48°36′14″N 14°24′21″E
Westmost Municipality
The westmost village is called Krásná in the Cheb district (Karlovy Vary region). It beats the westmost town of Hranice just by very little. Both municipalities are at the border with Germany (Bavaria and Saxony).
GPS Krásná: 50°14′6″N 12°10′5″E
GPS Hranice: 50°18′17″N 12°10′33″E
Eastmost Municipality
The eastmost Czech municipality, so so close to Poland, is the village of Bukovec in the District of Frýdek-Místek. An interesting fact is that about one third of the village’s population is of Polish nationality.
GPS: 49°31′30″N 18°50′4″E
Highest-located municipality and settlement
The highest-located municipality in the Czech Republic is the village of Kvilda in the Prachatice District in the Bohemian Forest. The elevation of 1065 m and the average annual temperature of 2°C makes it also the coldest municipality. The longest Czech river Vltava rises here.
GPS: 49°1′9.3″N 13°34′46.48″E
When it comes to the most elevated municipalities, a place called Filipova Huť is often mentioned. It is a part of the Modrava municipality and also the human settlement of the highest elevation outranking even Kvilda.
GPS: 49°1′47″N, 13°31′13″E
Warmest Mineral Spring
There are quite a few spa cities in the Czech Republic where you can relax and cure your ailments. One of the most famous one is Karlovy Vary in western Bohemia and that’s exactly where you can find the warmest Czech mineral spring. Or rather the hottest, because the temperature of the spring which is called Vřídlo is 72 °C. The spring gave the name to one of the several colonnades in the town, the so called Vřídelní kolonáda.
GPS: 50°13′22″N 12°53′1″E
Shortest Municipality Name
There are actually two municipalities which win this title. The first one is the town called Aš (Cheb District, Karlovy Vary Region) known for its short name more than for anything else. And the other one is Eš, a small agricultural village in the Vysočina Region.
GPS Aš: 50° 13′ 25.93″ N, 12° 11′ 41.96″ E
GPS Eš: 49°26′5″ N, 15°0′5″ E
Oldest Existing Bridge
The oldest bridge that’s still in place is gothic Kamenný most v Písku (Stone Bridge in Písek) in Písek, Southern Bohemia. It was built in the late 13th century over the river Otava. The unofficial name is Jelení most (Deer Bridge), supposedly because when it was built it was decided to name the bridge after the first being that would cross it. Although the locals call it just the Old Bridge.
GPS: 49°18′35″ N, 14°8′44″ E
Least Inhabited Municipality
As of 2021, the village of Vysoká Lhota (Pelhřimov District) has 14 inhabitants. It has never had many inhabitants but the number has dropped drastically over the years (178 inhabitants in 1869 and reaching the top in 1910 and 1930 with 186 inhabitants).
GPS: 49°25′ N, 15°2′32″ E
Most Elevated Castle
Vítkův kámen (Vítek Stone) is a castle ruin at 1035 ASL which makes it the most elevated castle in the Czech Republic. It is located on a hill that bears the same name, above the settlement Svatý Tomáš (St. Thomas) in the district of Český Krumlov.
GPS: 48°38′42″ N, 14°6′12″ E
Largest Sundial
The town of Prachatice features not only the largest sundial in the Czech Republic but also in whole Central Europe. The sundial was installed in 1969-1970 and its span is of 7 meters and the dial is 3 meters long.
GPS: 49°0′49,19″ N, 14°0′1,01″ E
Autor: Anaj7, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77392504
Oldest Cave Painting
The cave Býčí skála (Bull Rock) in the Moravian Karst guards the oldest cave painting in the Czech Republic. It dates back to approximately 3200 B.C.
GPS: 49°18′26,86″ N, 16°41′41,22″ E
