Ralsko (german: Rollberg or ''Roll'') is a mountain in the

Liberec Region Liberec Region ( cs, Liberecký kraj, german: Reichenberger Region, pl, Kraj liberecki) is an administrative unit (Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after i ...

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 is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

isolated cone mountain. The ruins of the Gothic Ralsko Castle are on its top. The summit area is protected as a nature reserve.

Location

Ralsko is located in the municipal territories of Noviny pod Ralskem and

Ralsko Ralsko (german: Roll) is a town in Česká Lípa District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,100 inhabitants. It comprises area of the former military training area with Hradčany Air Base. Because of the former military ...

, about east of

Česká Lípa Česká Lípa (; german: Böhmisch Leipa) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 37,000 inhabitants and it is the most populated town of the Czech Republic without city status. The town centre is well preserved and is p ...

and west of

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

History

The peak of the mountain formed as a volcanic upheaval during the geologic

Tertiary Period Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

. From 1950 to 1991, the mountain part of the Ralsko military training area. The summit area with an area of has been protected as a nature reserve since 1967.

Ralsko Castle

The first wooden castle was probably built as early as the 13th century. The oldest preserved parts of the castle are the two residential towers, which were probably built as early as the 14th century. In the 15th century, the castle was expanded with a shield wall. The castle was conquered in 1468 by the troops of the Bohemian

Lusatian League The Lusatian League (german: Oberlausitzer Sechsstädtebund; cs, Šestiměstí; pl, Związek Sześciu Miast) was a historical alliance of six towns in the Bohemian (1346–1635), later Saxon (1635–1815) region of Upper Lusatia, that existed fr ...

. A ruse was used to do this, and soldiers secretly entered the castle while the cattle were returning from the pasture. In 1505 the castle is mentioned as being abandoned.

References

{{coord, 50.6741, 14.7653, format=dms, display=title, region:CZ_type:mountain Česká Lípa District Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic