A visit to the pilgrimage site on Maková hora, near Příbram: 3 km to 14 km
- On a small, wooded hill, some 12 km southeast of Příbram, stands one of Central Bohemia’s most beautiful high Baroque buildings, the Church of Saint John the Baptist and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Built in 1722 by the Italian architect Canevallo, the church on Maková hora (544m) became (and remains) an important pilgrimage site.
- Maková hora overlooks the village of Smolotely, which has a fine (unrestored) Baroque chateau at its centre. There is a 7 km education trail detailing the history and nature of the area, which circles the village and visits Maková hora.
- The walk from the village center up to Maková hora following a circular section of the education trail is just 3 km long and makes a fine short walk. For a longer route, consider either following the education trail on its full length (7 km) or take a circular tour down to Orlík reservoir (this route is shown in the map below).
- The full route is just over 14 km long, with 360m of height to ascend-descend. There are no steep sections, but the paths in the forest down to the reservoir can be muddy. There are quite long sections on asphalt or paved roads on the return journey.
- For refreshments, there is a nice village restaurant, Restaurace U Čerta in Bohustice, 3 km from the starting-finishing point in Smolotely. In Smolotely itself, there is a well-regarded restaurant in the pension (map point 7) but this is usually only open in the summer months.
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
- Start in the village of Smolotely (bus connections from Příbram). For drivers, there should be parking spots in the village centre
- From the village centre, join the education trail (green/white diagonal stripes) heading up to Maková – take the path marked 1.5 km
- Follow this trail for 1.4 km to reach the church. From there, if only wanting the shorter route, follow the education trail over the far side of the hill and circle back to the village that way
- For the route down to Orlík, join the RED hiking trail at the church and follow this for 4.6 km to reach the reservoir at Solenice bridge (most)
- At the Solenice – most junction, join the YELLOW trail heading in the direction of Kamenná
- After 4.6 km reach junction of Pod Jedlovkou and here turn right onto the GREEN trail which leads back to Smolotely after 3.8 km
