or Wielka Czantoria ( cs, Velká Čantoryje) is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

on the border of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, in the Silesian Beskids mountain range. It reaches a height of . Parts of the mountain on both sides are designated a protected area.

Geography

The peak of Czantoria Wielka is located on the

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of municipal territories of Ustroń and Wisła ( Silesian Voivodeship, Poland) and

Nýdek ( pl, , german: Niedek) is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,100 inhabitants. Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Polish minority makes up 17.0% of the ...

( Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic). The mountain lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia. It is distinct for its steep slopes in the east and the west. Mostly

coniferous Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All extant ...

trees grow on its slopes. It is the largest peak of the Czech part of the Silesian Beskids. There is a 29 m-high lookout tower on the mountain and

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located high in the mountains, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineers, climbers and hikers. Mountain huts are usually operated by an Alpine Club or some organization d ...

on the Czech side of the mountain.

History

The mountain hut was constructed in 1904 by the German tourist association '' Beskidenverein'', and was named ''Erzherzogin Isabella Schutzhaus'' in honor of

Archduchess Isabella of Austria , house =Habsburg-Lorraine , father =Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen , mother =Princess Isabella of Croÿ , birth_date = , birth_place =Pressburg, Austria-Hungary , death_date ...

. In 1920 the new border between the states of

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

was established running across the mountain (thus creating Zaolzie region). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and expropriation of German property, the hut was nationalized by the Czechoslovak government. A smaller mountain hut was built on the Polish side in 1962.

Tourism

In 1965–1967 a

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They ...

was constructed on the Polish side, it has been renovated several times since. Reaching the mountain via chairlift takes roughly 6 minutes. The mountain can be hiked from both sides of the border, though the Polish side offers easier access to the summit from Ustroń. The Knight's hiking trail from the Czech side runs through the municipality of

Gallery

Čantoryje, chata.JPG, Mountain hut Čantoryje, rozhledna (2).JPG, Observation tower Czantoria - kolejka 05.JPG, Czantoria chairlift Slezské Beskydy - Rytířská stezka (cesta Nýdek - Velká Čantoryje).JPG, Knights' hiking trail Widok z Czantorii.jpg, A big part of Cieszyn Silesia seen from the mountain

References

External links

* {{Authority control Silesian Beskids Mountains of Poland Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic Czech Republic–Poland border International mountains of Europe Mountains under 1000 metres