Blaník (Czech: ) is a mountain in the

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

near

Louňovice pod Blaníkem Louňovice pod Blaníkem () is a market town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. Administrative division Louňovice pod Blaníkem consists of five municipal parts (in brackets po ...

. The hill and surrounding area is a protected landscape area. The Blaník massif consists of two forested rocky hills, Velký Blaník ("Great Blaník"; 638 m) and Malý Blaník (Small Blaník"; 580 m). The mountain has played an important role in Czech national mythology since the Middle Ages (together with the mountains

Říp Říp (; ) is a high solitary hill in the Lower Ohře Table in the Czech Republic. It is located southeast of Litoměřice. According to national legend, it is the place where the first Czechs settled. The mountain and the rotunda on its top a ...

and

Radhošť Radhošť () is a mountain in the Czech Republic. It has an elevation of and belongs to the Moravian-Silesian Beskids mountain range. It is located in Dolní Bečva and Trojanovice municipalities in the Zlín Region, Zlín and Moravian-Silesian ...

); therefore, during the era of the

Czech National Revival The Czech National Revival was a cultural movement which took place in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this movement was to revive the Czech Czech language, language, culture and national identity. The most pro ...

, a stone quarried from Blaník was symbolically placed in the foundations of the newly built National Theatre in Prague.

Buildings

In the 5th century BC, during the

Hallstatt period The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to ...

, a circular

hillfort A hillfort is a type of fortification, fortified refuge or defended settlement located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typical of the late Bronze Age Europe, European Bronze Age and Iron Age Europe, Iron Age. So ...

with two rows of massive stone walls was built at the top of Great Blaník; its remnants are still visible around the summit. Later, a fortress and probably a wooden castle were built there. At the top of Great Blaník stands a 30 m tall wooden

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

from 1941 in the shape of a

Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...

tower. On the top of Small Blaník are the ruins of the pilgrimage Chapel of St.

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

. Its construction was completed in 1753 but it was abolished in 1783 by a decree of the Emperor

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

. The ground plan of the chapel is formed by an octagon composed into an ellipse, under which there used to be a hermit cave. In the middle of the ruins grows a 160-year-old

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' ( ), a genus of about 40 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ecosystem, boreal (taiga) regions of the Northern hemisphere. ''Picea'' ...

called "Big Monk."

In popular culture

Czech historical novelist

Alois Jirásek Alois Jirásek () (23 August 1851 – 12 March 1930) was a Czech writer, author of historical novels and plays. Jirásek was a high school history teacher in Litomyšl and later in Prague until his retirement in 1909. He wrote a series of histor ...

portrayed the Blaník legend in his ''

Ancient Bohemian Legends ''Ancient Bohemian legends'' () is a book by Alois Jirásek written in 1894. It describes events from Czech Republic, Czech history based on folk literature and some historical facts. The model was based on Chronicle of Hájek, Cosmas of Prague, ...

''. The last movement of Smetana's symphonic poem ''

Má vlast (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single work in si ...

'' is called ''Blaník''. The Czechoslovak-built

Let L-13 Let or LET may refer to: Sports * Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as; ** Let (badminton) ** Let (pickleball) ** Let (tennis) * Ladies European Tour, the lad ...

sailplane is called the Blaník after the mountain, and the

Let L-23 Let or LET may refer to: Sports * Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as; ** Let (badminton) ** Let (pickleball) ** Let (tennis) * Ladies European Tour, the ladi ...

is called the Super Blaník.

Legend

Blaník is surrounded by many legends, some of which probably originate in

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

times. The main legend about knights arose probably in the 15th century among the common people on the basis of an event, when the enemy army was defeated in a miraculous way at the southeastern foothill of Blaník, near the village of Býkovice. The legend says, that there is an army resting inside the mountain and waiting for the Czech nation to be at its worst. Its commander is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the country St. Wenceslaus. It is said that a day inside the mountain is as long as a year on the surface. As soon as the Czech country will be in its deepest distress, a rock shall open up in the mountain, the knights inside wake up from a deep sleep, and will set off against the enemies. They will defeat them, and peace and tranquility will come back to

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. Since 1989, St. Wenceslaus Celebrations have been regularly held here. From the Great Blaník Wenceslaus is accompanied by his soldiers and comes on a white horse to Louňovice pod Blaníkem square, where the celebrations are held. At Rudka (a part of

Kunštát Kunštát (; ) is a town in Blansko District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants. Administrative division Kunštát consists of six municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 cens ...

) a

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

man-made cave with carved figures of the Blaník knights is located. It is a popular touristic attraction.

External links

Blaník Protected Landscape Area
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanik Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic Protected landscape areas in the Czech Republic King asleep in mountain Benešov District

Buildings

In popular culture

Legend

See also

External links