A 3km walk around the surprising new (old) town of Dolní Břežany

• If travelling through or close to Dolní Břežany, a small town located 20 km to the south of Prague, consider stopping by for a quick walk around. You might be surprised at what you find. The town is an intriguing mix of the ancient and the ultra modern. It is also located on the plateau where some of Bohemia’s first farmers brought their livestock and sowed their seeds some 7000 years ago. Nearby is the hillfort of Závist, the most important Celtic oppidum in Bohemia, covering over 100ha of fortified hilltops.
• An advanced European laser research center sits adjacent to the restored Renaissance 17th century chateau, now converted into a luxury hotel and currently owned by the Prague Archbishopric. Next to the chateau is a new family owned microbrewery and restaurant, built on the site of the earlier Renaissance brewery. There is also a freshly reconstructed information center, a new museum (devoted to the history of the town) and an architect designed park, with modern art sculptures. The town is certainly blending the old with the new in impressive style.
• The Slavs built a 10th century fortress close to the edge of the current town, while later in the medieval period a 14th century Gothic fortress was constructed in the village centre. This was reconstructed into a Renaissance chateau around 1600 and into a luxury hotel today. Dolní Břežany seems to have every historical period covered – from the Stone Age Age right though to the latest cutting edge tourism and technology.
• The town has created two nature trails to celebrate its remarkable cultural past. The first (3km long, on mostly flat paths) which is described below, circles the main highlights in the town. The second trail extends to the Závist hillfort. Although this is a nice way to approach the Celtic oppidum, on balance the approach to/from Zbraslav is probably a more atmospheric way of visiting Závist.
• There are several options for refreshments in the town, but the Olivův pivovar certainly looks like an appealing prospect after a stroll around modern/ancient Dolní Břežany.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.cz’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.cz site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• Start the trail at the náměstí Na Sádkách close to the town park (there is a paid parking area, and main bus stop – buses from Kačerov metro)
• The trail can be followed clockwise or anticlockwise. Despite the six interesting information boards along the route, the trail itself is not easy to follow around town and is poorly marked. It is probably best to trace the route using a mapz.cz tracker
• By following the route anticlockwise (so first traversing the new park area, before heading to the forest area, where the Slavic early medieval fortress is located) it is possible to use the return leg to stop at the Olivův pivovar next to the Renaissance chateau – see picture immediately below