or Wielka Czantoria (, ) 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 area, and is usually higher t ...

on the border of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and 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 ...

, in the

Silesian Beskids Silesian Beskids (, , ) is one of the Beskids mountain ranges in the Outer Western Carpathians in southern Silesian Voivodeship, Poland and the eastern Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. Most of the range lies in Poland. It is separa ...

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 triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

of municipal territories of Ustroń and

Wisła Wisła (; ; ) is a town in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland, with a population of about 11,132 (2019), near the border with the Czech Republic. It is situated in the Silesian Beskids mountain range in the historical region of ...

(

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship ( ) is an administrative province in southern Poland. With over 4.2 million residents and an area of 12,300 square kilometers, it is the second-most populous, and the most-densely populated and most-urbanized region of Poland ...

, Poland) and

Nýdek Nýdek (, ) is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,100 inhabitants. The municipality has a significant Polish minority in the Czech Republic, Polish minority. ...

(

Moravian-Silesian Region The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most ...

, Czech Republic). The mountain lies in the historical region of

Cieszyn Silesia Cieszyn Silesia, Těšín Silesia or Teschen Silesia ( ; or ; or ) is a historical region in south-eastern Silesia, centered on the towns of Cieszyn and Český Těšín and bisected by the Olza River. Since 1920 it has been divided betwe ...

. It is distinct for its steep slopes in the east and the west. Mostly

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

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 at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

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. In 1920 the new border between the states of

and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

was established running across the mountain (thus creating

Zaolzie Trans-Olza (, ; , ''Záolší''; ), also known as Trans-Olza Silesia (), is a territory in the Czech Republic which was disputed between Second Polish Republic, Poland and First Czechoslovak Republic, Czechoslovakia during the Interwar Period. ...

region). After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

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