A walks in the forest area near Ostroměř, noted for its prehistoric and early medieval sites: 12 km

• The Labe floodplain is the most fertile agricultural terrain in Bohemia. It has been occupied, prized and fought over since the first framers arrived in the Czech lands some seven thousand years ago. The floodplain is ringed by low hills, which naturally became extremely important in the defense and control of this extraordinarily valuable territory. As a consequence, numerous hillforts were constructed in these hills, from the Bronze Age onwards.
• The northeastern section of the ring of hills, which stretches broadly from Jíčin to Hradec Králové, is arguably the most important section of the ring from a defensive perspective. Forts in these hills kept watch over the trade and military routes into both Silesia and Moravia. The first significant ridges that rise out of the floodplain in this eastern section are the Mlázovický and Hořický chlumy, split by the Javorka river. The most important fortress built on the ridge overlooking the Javork, is Hradiště Ostroměř. Finds from the Neolithic period onwards onwards have been discovered at the site.
• Around the middle of the 9th century an unknown Slavic leader refortified Ostroměř, creating a series of massive ramparts and ditches encompassing an area of some 30ha. Control of the area has sometimes been attributed to the Slavník family (many of whom were infamously massacred at the end of the 10th century), but the extent of real territorial control of the Slavník dynasty is disputed.
• It is, however, reasonably clear that Ostroměř fortress became a key strategic location from the middle of the 10th century, as part of the strengthening Přemyslid control of central Bohemia during the reign of Prince Boleslav I. During the 12th century the fort was abandoned, probably due to instability in the Přemyslid dynasty and a number successful incursions by Polish troops into northern Bohemia at the beginning of that century.
• Today, the only visible remains of the once mighty Hradiště Ostroměř are fragments of the ramparts and ditches. The fortress (like many other prehistoric archaeological sites in the country) is not a protected monument, which is unfortunate as it is a site that deserves to be better known. However, at least a marked hiking trail passes a segment of the fort.
• This trail leads out of the town of Ostroměř, which is the birthplace of the author and educationalist, Eduard Štorch, known today for his novels from prehistory, including the Mammoth Hunters. Štorch was an amateur archaeologist whose passion for the subject was fueled by his walks in the countryside, no doubt including visits to his ‘local’ hillfort. The route shown in the map below follows a section of the education trail named after Štorch and passes his house.
• Even for those without Štorch’s interest in ancient history, the suggested route traverses some lovely mixed forest areas, which are particularly attractive in autumn. The trail climbs gently to the hills before descending through the village of Holovousy, where there is a Renaissance chateau (given an Art Nouveau face lift at the beginning of the 20th century). The chateau may be rented for private events.
• The suggested route is just over 12 km in length with 240m of height to ascend/descend, partly on easy forest footpaths and partly on asphalt country lanes. For refreshments, consider trying the refurbished pub at Ostroměř station – but note the opening hours are late afternoon onwards, most days.

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

• From the Ostroměř train station (where there is free parking), join the nature trail (green/white diagonal stripe markers) which passes Štorch’s house and then continues up to the hillfort (following the GREEN hiking trail) reached after 2.3 km
• From the hillfort, remain on the GREEN trail for a further 1.7 km to reach the Údolí Javorky junction and there turn right onto the RED trail heading towards Hořice
• After 3 km reach the Chloumky junction and there turn right onto the YELLOW trail, which leads back to Ostroměř after 5 km