Česká Kanada (Czech Canada) is a tourist region in South Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
Understand
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The region is in the southern part of the Czech Republic, southeast from Jindřichův Hradec, near the border with Austria. Its name was first used in 1920s for all the land around Jindřichův Hradec, but it was later narrowed down. Between 1950 and 1989, during the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, a significant part of it became part of the Iron curtain border zone, and many villages too close to border were displaced and demolished.
The name "Czech Canada" was coined in the second half of the 1920s by Jaroslav Arnošt Trpák, a native of Jindřichův Hradec, a Prague journalist, essayist, promoter of active outdoor living, and a great Jindřichův Hradec patriot. He was inspired by his trip to North America, during which he realised that thoughtful promotion was necessary to kick-start tourism in his native region. After returning to Czechoslovakia, he saw a growing interest in travelling abroad, and these observations led him to create an exotic-sounding name with which he wanted to make his native region more visible.
In 1994, a nature park was set up in this area.
Get in
[edit]Buses go to Nová Bystřice, Kunžak, Český Rudolec, and Slavonice. You can use a train on the line Havlíčkův Brod - Jihlava - Telč - Dačice to get further to Slavonice. The ride Jihlava-Slavonice takes about 2 hours. See the timetables at IDOS.
All those and also other places are also accessible by car.
Get around
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You can get around by car or bike.
- Jindřichův Hradec – Nová Bystřice narrow-gauge railway line (Železniční trať Jindřichův Hradec – Nová Bystřice). A 760-mm track (the so-called Bosnian gauge) from Jindřichův Hradec to Nová Bystřice through the nature of Czech Canada. Starting in April 2026, seasonal service should be in operation, stopping at some interesting places that can be used as starting points for further trips.
See
[edit]- Číměř - Saint Giles church (kostel svatého Jiljí), with a tower from the 13th century
- Krvavý rybník and Kačležský rybník - two ponds near Člunek, forming a nature reserve
- Valtínov
- lookout tower U Jakuba
- Ďáblova prdel (Devil's ass) - large rock, its shape resembles buttocks
- Staré město pod Landštejnem
- 1 Landštejn castle. Used as a military base in the middle ages, this is one of the best preserved examples of medieval fortification systems. The German poet Friedrich Schiller set his play The Robbers (1781) in the surrounding forests.
- 2 Dobrohoř, village of Staré Město pod Landštejnem. A chateau from 19th century. The castle is used as a gallery and is open to the public during the tourist season. The castle also has a café and accommodation facilities.
- Church of Saint John the Baptist in Pomezí, built as a Romanesque church, rebuilt around 1300. It is the oldest church in the region.
- Český Rudolec - a partially repaired castle
- Maříž - village that almost disappeared, known for its ceramics workshop
- Rožnov - a bison ranch
Do
[edit]- 1 Czech Canada Nature Park (Přírodní park Česká Kanada). The area is valued for preserving a landscape that has been little changed by humans, as part of the nature park was part of the border zone during the previous communist era and was therefore largely left to its own devices. Thanks to this, rare, and in many places protected, species could survive here. The abundance of overgrown forests, pastures, hills, bodies of water and boulders, the dry weather, cold winters, but also the sparse population, all of this is reminiscent of the landscape of Canada.
- The area of the nature park is interwoven with many trails for year-round enjoyment. A number of nature trails, cycle paths and more than 100 km of cross-country skiing trails have been built here, including Graselovy stezky (Grasel trails), hiking trails named after Johann Georg Grasel, a well-known bandit who was active in this region