Czech Republic: From Prague to Confluence of Vltava and Labe
Vacation time with bicycles in Czech Republic continued. On our 2nd day we decided to cycle from Prague along the Vltava river to it's confluence with the Elbe river in Mělník. The way back was easier, as we didn't need to follow all the curves made by Vltava. In Prague we met with my friend Petr and his family and together we visited the Beer Garden in a park above his apartment.
Previous days of our Czech cycling trip: Day 1.
Our bikes were safely stored in our apartment. In the morning our first stop was a short artificial channel called Devil's Stream.
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| Selfie above the Devil's Stream. |
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| Charles Bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most). |
As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas.
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| Cycling along the Vltava, the longest river within the Czech Republic. |
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| Nada and Tuši. |
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| End of the road. Since our bikes were light, we just climbed the fence. |
From time to time the road became more interesting, especially for the road bikes.
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| Along the Větrušické rokle national nature reserve. |
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| No time to rest. |
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| Crossing the Vltava in Kralupy nad Vltavou. |
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| The question here was: Stop for a beer or continue? |
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| Approaching the Nelahozeves Castle. |
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| Construction on Nelahozeves Castle began under the orders of Florian Griesbeck von Griesbach, a Tyrolean aristocrat and adviser to Emperor Ferdinand I, who commissioned the building from royal master builder Bonifaz Wolmut. The castle took more than sixty years to build and was completed at the beginning of the 17th century, more than a decade after Florian's death. However, financial difficulties forced the von Griesbach family to sell the castle to Polyxena, 1st Princess Lobkowicz (1566–1642), in 1623. |
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| Kicked out. |
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| Over the Mirejovice Small Hydroelectric Power Station, built in 1928. The hydropower plant is equipped with five Francis turbines, the total output is 3.57 MW. |
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| View from the cockpit of Metliška Črnina. |
Nada and Tuši through the avenue of trees.
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| Zámek Veltrusy - Veltrusy Mansion is a baroque château. |
The mansion was initially built in 1716 by architect František Maxmilián Kaňka for Count Václav Antonín Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín. The original mansion was extended in 1764 by architect Giovanni Battista Alliprandi on the orders of Count Rudolf Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín, who also commissioned the interior decoration. Further extensions and the annexes of the mansion were constructed in 1804.
Currently, the area is managed by the National Heritage Institute, and in 2002 it was declared a national cultural heritage site.
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| Wild animals around the mansion. |
From the start, the chateau was projected with a generous Baroque concept, as a set of buildings with different height built along the north-south axis around a courtyard. The main building featured a central cylindrical core, one floor higher than four single-floor wings in the shape of St. Andrew’s cross.
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| In its original design, the Veltrusy chateau belonged to the most important architectural works of high Bohemian Baroque, despite its later modifications. Even though the original plans have been lost, the chateau is certainly closely linked to the work of one of the leading Baroque architects in Bohemia, Giovanni Battista Alliprandi. |
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| From baroque to the modern architecture. |
Vltava near it's confluence. It is much smaller here as part of the river fills the 10.1 km long Mělník - Vraňany Canal, built in the years 1902 - 1905.
Towards the confluence of the Elbe (Labe) and Vltava. At Mělník its stream is more than doubled in volume by the Vltava, a major river which winds northwards through Bohemia. Upstream from the confluence the Vltava is in fact much longer (434 kilometres against 294 kilometres of the Elbe so far), and has a greater discharge and a larger drainage basin. Nonetheless, for historical reasons the river retains the name Elbe, also because at the confluence point it is the Elbe that flows through the main, wider valley while the Vltava flows into the valley to meet the Elbe at almost a right angle, and thus appears to be the tributary river.
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| View to Mělník. |
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| Confluence from above. Elbe is hardly visible totally on the left side, while Vltava is the biggest here along with its canal on the right side. |
In the 5th and 6th century many Slavonic tribes lived here in Mělník, and the tribe of Pšovans created its main settlement in Mělník. Saint Ludmila (the grandmother of the Saint Wenceslas), who married the Bohemian prince Bořivoj, belonged to this tribe.
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| Nada and Tuši above the confluence of two major Czech rivers. |
In November 1274 Mělník gained the statute of town from king Ottokar II of Bohemia and later became a dowry town belonging to queens of Bohemia.
Lunch for the champions in Mělník.
Nada took a closer look of the tram lines.
In Prague we finished our cycling part of today's trip. We continued with the beer with my friend Petr and his "wife". Cheers!
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| Sunset and beer time. |
Vltava ride #1 - Garmin Connect.
Geocaches found (all received a visit by trackable items "remotesearchers GLOBALBUG", TB2R0H6 and "OceantagZ", TB5NYN3):
- Pražské Benátky - Prague Venice, Virtual Cache, GC7B74N
- Prague bridges 1 - Karluv most, GC189E5
- XYLOTÉKA na zámku NELAHOZEVES (Virtual Reward 2.0), Virtual Cache, GC890BQ
- Mělník, GC81JXR
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