libuše house - the main spa building in karlova studánka.
karlova studánka is a total insider tip. initially we had wanted to finally climb on top of the praděd, and asked a former czech co-worker of my dad where would be the best place to start if you wanted to visit the peak. he mentioned a small place called karlova studánka. as it turned out, the village is basically a spa resort, full of historic buildings to accommodate, entertain and most important of all, cure people.
the weather was quite awful when we arrived, it rained and was cold. i had my doubts whether we would be able to visit the highest mountain of the high ash mountain range, especially after i had read that we probably had to drive up there with a shuttle, but also because rain and bad weather means poor sights and maybe even snow storms ( and no shuttle service ). we looked after the parking spot from where the shuttle should start, and found one, but after asking a very grumpy guy in bad czech whether this place was the place to get up to the mountain to which we got a very inconclusive answer, we were put off to try our luck and drove into the village to hopefully get more information there.
we found our way to the libuše house and asked at the reception for more information. the woman at the information couldn't help either but she lead us deeper into the building to an office where someone could speak english. it was totally awkward and strange, us foreign tourists at a place were no one seemed to understand one bit of anything we tried to convey in all kinds of languages, including the local one. but we finally got some information that it was a bad day to get on top of the praděd, the sight was indeed very poor and there were also snowstorms! i thought to myself that my intuition isn't that bad, after all, lol. we thanked the office woman profusely and then decided to check out karlova studánka instead. when we drove into the village we had already ooh'ed and aah'ed about the wonderful little spa scenery, with a big amount of historic houses specifically designed for a spa stay.
the spa was brought to life in 1780 after the discovering of several mineral springs. it was called karlova studánka after archduke charles, duke of teschen, a field-marshal that defeated napoleon's troups during the war of the fifth coaliton. the reason behind this was no special one, to my knowledge he never visited the springs. it was only through archduke maximilian francis of austria, a child of maria theresia ( who reigned over bohemia - historical czechia ) that the name was initiated. the first well they found was also named after the archduke. he ordered, after hearing that there was mineral water to be found in the then-called village of hubertov, to search for more springs and therefore he counts as the initiator of the spa endeavour as well.
gradually they built new spa facilities, starting with the oldest one in 1782 and ending with the 'newest' one, the libuše house in 1931. the whole complex is harmonized in colour and building material, a lot of wooden facades create a charming atmosphere, which make it one of czechia's most beautiful spa towns! and a very idyllic one, too!
the libuše house again, which was built from 1928 to 1931 by anton köstler. it is the main building of the spa, with dining halls, facilities for electrotherapy, inhalations & rehabilitation studios on offer and also other medicinal services. the reception for the spa facilities is also inside this beautiful building.
when you step out of the libuše house you can see the summer spa on the left ( where a cute cafe & restaurant is situated, and also more treatment facilities like a swimming pool, sauna, salt grotto and a whirlpool ) and the hotel bezruč on the right. the summer spa is from 1893 and the hotel from 1824.
cats were some very visible inhabitants of the spa town, you could spot them throughout the area, but mostly around the libuše house. this beautiful specimen was so dreamy 😘 look at her pose and her gaze, such a sweetheart!
other cats shielded themselves from the rain underneath old rhododendron bushes and slept the day away ❤
the river bílá opava ( white opava ) was running through the village as well. apparently there's a 8m high waterfall not far away from the village, but we didn't know of it while we visited and therefore missed out on that spectacle ;_; the building you see here ( those in the back ) are house praděd ( left and věžový house ( right ). house praděd ( 1800 ) has a mini market inside and the věžový house (1795 ) is a restaurant. the building on the far left is the official postal service, which was the old bath house ( 1803 ) once.
the terasový house ( terraced house ) from 1890 was also called chamois in old times ( after the animal - probably because it was built on stones ).
the yellow house in the back is the penzion jurajdová, a small hotel directly situated behind the spa administration. it was once called the hinnewiederhaus. hin und wieder is german and comes from a time when there wasn't enough room for spa guests in the little village and they had to travel here while staying in hotels and guest houses in the surrounding villages. because that was always a stop-go endeavour those guests cheekily gave the village the name hinnewieder ( go there, return again ). the house was built in 1834 and got a second level in 1894.
the hotel again and a beautiful greenhouse next to it. it's used as a gallery and cafe now. it was built in 1897.
of course a czech village wouldn't be complete without any evidence of socialist activities! this stag sculpture provided exactly that ;)
the style of the sculpture is called 'brussel's style', a very influential trend of art in the czech republic. it gathered way after the expo58, where the former czechoslowakian state had an exhibition hall. it is not unlike typical representatives of modern design, though the czech version of it is a little bit more softened and playful.
these details belong to a refreshment stand, apparently the figurehead of karlova studánka! i don't know why i didn't take a photo of it, instead of the wooden details of its facade 😅 i hope i can make it up with this link, where you can see it in its full glory. it was built in 1895 and sits directly above the william's spring which offers sparkled water for free to anyone in need of something refreshing.
when we first arrived in karlova studánka we drove by this building which immediately made me think of the movie 'the shining' by stanley kubrick. the hotel in the movie was equally impressing only a little bit more monumental. it is the silesian house, built from 1909 to 1913 by architects karl karn and karl blum. it was a project of the last habsburg archduke eugen of austria, before the founding of czechoslowakia in 1918. it is still a hotel today as it was back then when it was first opened.
what would a village be without a church? especially when you consider that czechia is a faithful country! the classicist church of our lady healing the sick was built from 1838 to 1840.
the summer spa house had distinct art nouveau features, but carried out in wooden materials. the high windows, the way the wood has intricate patterns, this all are indicators you have a very early art nouveau building in front of you. i can practically feel how luxurious it must've felt to the spa guests.
in front of the summer spa.
villa vlasta ( formerly villa wilhelm ) was built between 1893 and 1894 by architect franz meissner. it offers more rooms for spa guests.
there were more buildings to discover in karlova studánka, but we got cold and instead of sitting down for coffee and cake in a village that barely understood us ( ;P ) we decided to jump in the car and do a little road trip. which meant that we just meandered around the area of praděd mountain to see if we would stumble upon anything interesting. on this drive we entered a fog so heavy that it was a relief to finally emerge on the other side of the mountain.
we stopped at a random place to enjoy this view of the praděd and think about the impenetrable fog we had just driven through. you couldn't even see as far as 10 meters? it was clearly one of the worst fog situations i've ever been through 😆 we were all worried about having a car crash or something.
since the weather down in the valley was definitely better than on the mountain, we decided to hop off the car again and check out the surrounding woods. as we always do when it's autumn and we are spending some time in a forest, our eyes are always wide open for a possible mushroom hunt, and that was what we did! we found lots of edible ones ( and had them for dinner later that evening ).
the woods were so mossy and green - pure delight!
just your average but gorgeous forest chaos.
these young fly agarics were perfectly round, like a tennis ball! i have a little bit of an obsession with these mushrooms, because of the colour and patterns. i know they are not edible and poisonous, but i love them! when it comes to the aesthetics of mushrooms, i think fly agarics are my personal favourites ❤
perfect babies 😍
whenever i stumble upon something like this i wonder what intention was behind the assortment of rocks, or cones or wood. did someone try to build an altar for the wood gods or was it maybe to celebrate an occassion? is it a witchy thing or just plain boredom that makes people collect natural materials and plan to build some sort of structure?
the mossy wood grounds 💚
the path was so tiny and cute, perfect for deer, does and other little critters. can you count me as a critter as well? i'm only 5"2 ( 158 cm ) in height, so that means i can be a wood creature, too, right? ;)
the discovery of the day was this gorgeous umbrella! it is totally useless for shielding away rain, but that's not a bad thing, as this one is totally edible! we would definitely eat this beauty later. oh, what, you say it's not an umbrella? well, you are right, i was just playing a little dumb. of course this is a porcino mushroom :3 ( by the way, i like how in english these are also called penny buns! what a cute word! )
when we had enough mushrooms we decided to make a detour to see what else the region around praděd mountain had to offer and we ended up in a village called sovinec ( which was not very close to where we started after all 😂 about 40 km distance ). this place had a huge castle to offer, and if we had been a little earlier we would've probably managed to get an inside look, but unfortunately, we were too late. but we didn't fret, we still got to see it in a special evening mood, as, can you believe it, the sun made an appearance, too! it was one of those very lucky moments, where you are fortunate enough, after a long cloudy, cold, foggy and drizzly day, to be a witness of some golden moments in the evening. it felt like someone opened up the sky for us so we could enjoy that fleeting moment of bliss and wonder ❤
sovinec is a district village of jiříkov, a small municipality in the low ash mountains. it only has 30 inhabitants ( really tiny! ) but the castle seems to be absolutely worth visiting! it once had been a very important beacon of fortification for various influential czech nobilities in the region until 1623, and was still important when danish and swedish troups invaded it later on during the 30 years war. in 1623 the teutonic order also replaced the original owners, when they were forced to sell it for a low price as a punishment for partaking in the battle of the white mountain. after the 30 year war was over the teutonic order wasn't interested in the fortification anymore, instead it used the castle as a boy's seminary school for a bit and as a summer seat for the knights until the castle was eventually confiscated by the nazis. and these rogues of course used the castle as a jail & prison - a very dark period in the history of the castle. and then, just at the end of world war 2 the castle burned down. they've been renovating it ever since.
on the way to the castle's entry you pass by this church - st. augustine's. the tower of the church was formerly part of the castle's fortification system ( an octagonal artillery tower ) and incorporated into the church building when it was built from 1844 to 1845. the initiator of this empire-style church was the grand master of the teutonic order at that time: archduke maximilian of austria-este.
sovinec castle ( in german it was called eulenburg ) was built from 1329 to 1332 by wok & pavel hrutovic, two brothers who wanted to defend the region against the olomouc bishops. the hrutovici's were descendants of one of the oldest moravian dynasties back then, and also very influential. the family shaped the first part of the castle's history until 1545 and called themselves the sovinec family.
i loved how the sun illuminated the old stone walls in such a soft light.
though we didn't see all of the castle it surely seemed very big and expansive. it's build upon a rockspur overlooking the valley of the sovinec streamlet, giving you a very majestic impression. it was fortified heavily, thick walls and big bastions surrounding the inner castle. there are 6 courtyards inside, which i think is quite a lot for a castle.
st. augustine's incorporation into the castle premises is something special as well, its tower still exuding an air of defense, even though it is a new construction and stands where formerly an artillery tower resided. in that tower there are exhibitions on the history of the castle.
i really like this picture for the trees casting a shadow on the church's walls.
the first courtyard has a renaissance gate and also boasts some sgraffito walls.
when you turn around you see st. augustine's belfry and its artillery tower base.
we didn't explore the castle more thoroughly, we just assumed we would eventually have to turn back as soon as we stepped through the renaissance gate. sometimes i wonder why we jump to such quick conclusions, it might as well been possible that we could've seen even more from the inner castle had we just tried our luck! ah, well. nevermind. we moved back towards the village and explored it a little.
the sun was setting and it created such a hazy, pastel spectacle.
this was formerly a roadhouse, beautifully crumbling away in the setting sun. i only could find some old postcards about it, but no other information on when it was built or given up.
the staghorn sumach's autumn outfit is always such a treat, isn't it?
i was so in awe of that breathtaking light. it clearly felt like a blessing.
we stumbled upon a former public swimming pool. you can guess if i went for an imaginary swim 😅
i absolutely did some laps, how could i not? 😂
since it was getting dark very quick now we finally decided to drive back to krnov and call it a day. as we left the village we noticed the beautiful view on the castle and stopped again to take some quick pictures.
if i ever return to this region i'll make sure to visit sovinec castle again and have a more in depth look at the premises. and i think, karlova studánka also should be warranted another visit, especially since we missed out on climbing the praděd and exploring more of the surrounding nature of the village.
even though the day, from a more touristic standpoint wasn't very successful ( we even sometimes were really grumpy about that because it all didn't work out as we planned it ), i still look back at this day as one full of small surprises! because i personally think the best treasures you can find in a country are always the ones that hide in the back country, in small villages and secluded valleys. ❤
next on in the avantýra series will be the last installment of this trip, and it's set in krnov again!
until then, stay curious 😘
Comments