Pec pod Sněžkou (; german: Petzer, pl, Pec pod Śnieżką) is a town in

Trutnov District Trutnov District ( cs, okres Trutnov is a district (''okres'') within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Trutnov. Complete list of municipalities Batňovice - Bernartice - Bílá Třemešná ...

in the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region ( cs, Královéhradecký kraj, ; pl, Kraj hradecki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec K ...

of 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 ...

. It has about 600 inhabitants. The village lies at the base of the highest Czech mountain,

Sněžka Sněžka or Śnieżka (in Czech and Polish respectively; german: Schneekoppe, sk, Snežka) is a mountain on the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, the most prominent point of the Silesian Ridge in the Giant Mountains. At , its summit ...

, in the

Giant Mountains The Giant Mountains, Krkonoše or Karkonosze (Czech: , Polish: , german: Riesengebirge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massi ...

. From the town a two-section cable car system leads to the top of Sněžka. The

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

at Pec pod Sněžkou is one of the best-known

mountain resort A mountain resort is a place to holiday or vacation located in an elevated and typically at least relatively isolated area. The term resort implies integral hotel or inn accommodations, restaurants, and either or both sports facilities or scen ...

s in the country.

Administrative parts

The village of Velká Úpa is an administrative part of Pec pod Sněžkou.

Geography

Pec pod Sněžkou is located about northwest of

Trutnov Trutnov (; german: Trautenau) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 29,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative parts Trutnov is ...

and north of

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

. It lies in the

and, with the exception of the built-up area, in the Krkonoše National Park. The highest point is

, at above sea level the highest mountain of the whole country. The

Úpa The Úpa (german: Aupa) is a river in the Czech Republic and a left tributary of the river Elbe. It originates in the Giant Mountains at an elevation of 1,422 metres. It enters the Elbe near Jaroměř. It is long, and its basin area is about , ...

River springs here and flows across the municipality, the Zelený Stream flows into it in the centre of Pec pod Sněžkou. The built-up area is located in the valley of these two watercourses.

History

The oldest documented settlement in the area is the mining village ''Obří důl'' (meaning "Giant Mine"), where the first recorded mining occurred in 1511. Mainly

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ore and

arsenopyrite Arsenopyrite ( IMA symbol: Apy) is an iron arsenic sulfide (FeAsS). It is a hard ( Mohs 5.5-6) metallic, opaque, steel grey to silver white mineral with a relatively high specific gravity of 6.1. When dissolved in nitric acid, it releases elem ...

were mined until 1959, when the mines were closed after nearly 450 years. The village Pec pod Sněžkou was founded in the 16th century, when it was one of three parts of Velká Úpa. This was the result of extensive logging and felling of forests in the area. The area was colonized by lumberjacks from Styria, Carinthia and

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, who built huts, founded meadows in forest clearings, and bred cattle and goats.

Demographics

Transport

Pec pod Sněžkou has direct bus connection with

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. An old chairlift from 1949 to the top of

was replaced by a new cable car system in February 2014. The system consists of two sections and can carry up to 250 visitors per hour in four-person cabins.

Sport

The

is one of the best-known and most frequented

s in the Czech Republic. Pec pod Sněžkou provides a modern

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. Th ...

, 10 surface

ski lift A ski lift is a mechanism for transporting skiers up a hill. Ski lifts are typically a paid service at ski resorts. The first ski lift was built in 1908 by German Robert Winterhalder in Schollach/Eisenbach, Hochschwarzwald. Types * Aerial ...

s with a transport capacity of 9,620 persons per hour, a jagged freestyle park, the longest and best-lit slope for evening skiing, a 900-metre-long

bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

track, a

snow tubing Tubing, also known as inner tubing, bumper tubing, towed tubing, or kite tubing, is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donu ...

ice channel, and a number of cross-country skiing routes. It is now included in SkiResort Černá hora – Pec, which forms the largest Czech ski resort.

Sights

The Na Peci Tavern is a cultural monument. The house was built in 1793 and is an example of

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

. The Chapel of the Virgin Mary was built in 1888 and renovated in 1933.

Notable people

* Gustl Berauer (1912–1986), German nordic combined skier

Twin towns – sister cities

Pec pod Sněžkou is twinned with: *

Karpacz Karpacz (German: ''Krummhübel'') is a spa town and ski resort in Jelenia Góra County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland, and one of the most important centres for mountain hiking and skiing, including ski jumping. Its population ...

, Poland

References

External links

*
WebcamHistory and etymology of town name
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pec pod Snezkou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Ski areas and resorts in the Czech Republic Populated places in Trutnov District