A tour of the unique Baroque complex of Kuks and the Braun sandstone sculptures: 3 km to 9 km

František Antonín (Count) Špork was a Czech/German nobleman who distinguished himself in the Imperial Army during the late 17th century and was rewarded with estates in Bohemia. One of these estates included the village of Kuks, on the banks of the Labe (Elbe in Germany), where Count Špork decided to create a magnificent Baroque complex comprising a chateau, spa buildings and a hospital for the elderly and war veterans.
At its peak, the spa area was among the most lavish in Bohemia, but it declined after the death of the Count in 1738 and successive floods of the Labe gradually destroyed the unique complex. Today, only the hospital stands in its original form and remained in use until 1938. The hospital and associated buildings, including a Baroque pharmacy museum can be visited on guided tours. The attractive renovated French-style gardens behind the hospital are free to visit.
The whole complex is adorned by statues created by the famous and prolific Austrian sculptor, Matthias Bernard Braun who enjoyed the patronage of Count Špork and decorated several of his properties. Braun carved reliefs in local sandstone rock formations, together with free standing statues, wood carvings and hermitages creating a unique Baroque landscape, much of which failed to survive. The most famous surviving relief is a nativity scene and the whole landscape has become known as Bethlehem.
A 7 km marked educational trail visiting the Braun reliefs and statues begins and finishes at Kuks bridge. Much of this trail is on forest or riverside footpaths and while not difficult is unsuitable for strollers (there is approximately 200m of height to navigate on the route). The Braun-Bethlehem trail can easily be combined with the shorter (3 km) tour around Kuks village and the hospital area.
Kuks can be reached by various public transport means. The village has a train station (on the Liberec regional line) and there are bus connections directly with Prague, as well as the region’s capital Hradec Králové. There is a large (paid) parking area on the edge of the village.
There are several good refreshment options in and around Kuks, including a pub directly beside the hospital, an excellent café (LoriCafé) on the street leading from the car park into Kuks and just off the Braun educational trail next to the Labe river, Sporkkův Mlýn.

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

Directions

Starting at the bus stops or car park, follow the BLUE hiking trail into the village
On the edge of the village, pick up the short education trail describing the history of Kuks. This circles around to reach the Kuks bridge
At the bridge pick up the Braun-Bethlehem trail which leads past the hospital and into the fields to the west of the complex
Take the time to admire the hospital complex, its array of statues and the pretty French-style gardens before continuing (if desired) with the longer trail that leads to the nativity scene sculptures in the forest, 3 km to the west of the hospital
The trail than descends for 1.6 km to cross the Labe near the Sporkkův Mlýn at the edge of the village of Stanovice
The trail then follows the RED hiking route for 2 km alongside the Labe back to Kuks