The Svitavy Uplands or Svitavy Hills ( cs, Svitavská pahorkatina) are uplands and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the

Pardubice Region Pardubice Region ( cs, Pardubický kraj; , ; pl, Kraj pardubicki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located mainly in the eastern part of its historical region of Bohemia, with a small part in northwestern Moravia. It ...

and it belongs to the largest mesoregions in the country.

Geomorphology

The Svitavy Uplands is a mesoregion of the East Bohemian Table within the

Bohemian Massif The Bohemian Massif ( cs, Česká vysočina or ''Český masiv'', german: Böhmische Masse or ''Böhmisches Massiv'') is a geomorphological province in Central Europe. It is a large massif stretching over most of the Czech Republic, eastern Ger ...

. It is a rugged hilly area with

highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

s in the eastern part. It has a relatively uniform relief with

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...

s, low ridges,

cuesta A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer laye ...

s, valleys and furrows. The relief is complemented by

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

river terraces of the Chrudimka River. The uplands are further subdivided into the microregions of Česká Třebová Highlands, Loučná Table and Chrudim Table. There are a lot of medium-high hills. The highest peaks are located in the southern part of the territory. The highest peaks of the Svitavy Uplands are: *Baldský vrch, *Drašarov, *Rohozná, *Poličský vrch, *Roh, *Modřecký vrch, *U Mariánského obrazu, *Na drahách, *Mladějovský vrch, *Mirand,

Geography

The Svitavy Uplands roughly stretches from the south to the northwest and north. The uplands have an area of and an average elevation of . There are several rivers, but in general the area is poor in smaller watercourses. The main European watershed passes through the Svitavy Uplands. The river Svitava and its tributaries in the southern tip of the uplands head to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. The northern part with the rivers Chrudimka, Loučná, Novohradka, Třebovka and Tichá Orlice is drained by the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

. Suitable natural conditions contributed to the creation of many settlements in the Svitavy Uplands. Most populated towns in the territory are

Chrudim Chrudim () is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest town of the region. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Admi ...

Svitavy Svitavy (; german: Zwittau) is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is the birthplace of Oskar Schindler and the centre of the Czech Esperanto movement. The historic town centre is well preser ...

Česká Třebová Česká Třebová (; german: Böhmisch Trübau) is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument ...

Ústí nad Orlicí Ústí nad Orlicí (; german: Wildenschwert) is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The town lies in the Orlické Mountains on the confluence of the rivers Tichá Orlice and Třebovka. The town ...

Vysoké Mýto Vysoké Mýto (; german: Hohenmaut, also ''Hohenmauth'') is a town in Ústí nad Orlicí District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. Its town square is the largest example of its type in the country. T ...

Litomyšl Litomyšl (; german: Leitomischl) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,900 inhabitants. It is former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see. Litomyšl is known for the château-type castle c ...

Přelouč Přelouč () is a town in Pardubice District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,300 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Klenovka, Lhota, Lohenice, Mělice, Škudly, Štěpánov and Tupesy are administrative p ...

and

Polička Polička (; german: Politschka) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrat ...

Geology and pedology

The geologically diverse bedrock is dominated by marlite,

claystone Mudrocks are a class of fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. The varying types of mudrocks include siltstone, claystone, mudstone, slate, and shale. Most of the particles of which the stone is composed are less than and are too sm ...

s, spongilites,

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s and marly limestones. The most widespread soils are

cambisol A Cambisol in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is a soil in the beginning of soil formation. The horizon differentiation is weak. This is evident from weak, mostly brownish discolouration and/or structure formation in the soil pr ...

and

brown earth Brown earth is a type of soil. Brown earths are mostly located between 35° and 55° north of the Equator. The largest expanses cover western and central Europe, large areas of western and trans-Uralian Russia, the east coast of America and easte ...

Nature

The area is largely agricultural. Forest cover does not exceed 30%. There are basically no protected landscape areas in the territory, only a few small-scale protected areas. The most notable of them is the Rohová National Nature Reserve.

Gallery

Výhled z poklony - 7.JPG, Střemošická stráň Nature Reserve Ptačí ostrovy, PP přímo v Chrudimi.jpg, Chrudimka River in Chrudim Rozhledna na turistické značce.jpg, View towards Ostrov Poutní místo Homol4.jpg, Homole, a pilgrimage site Mirand from Damnikov.jpg, Mirand hill

References

External links

{{authority control Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Geography of the Pardubice Region