Seeking the Devil: Your Ultimate Guide to Escaping Boredom!
Most of us have met the devil in the cinema or on TV. Although the devils in Czech fairy tales are usually dirty and cheerful fools who will eat anyone with a winch, there are a few exceptions.
Where is St. Nicholas Day celebrated in the Czech Republic?
The best movie fairy tales with devils
We’ll remind you Vladimír Ráže and his demonic Doctor Solfern from the film Playing with the Devil (1956), based on the fairy-tale play by Jan Drda, the devil Urias from the Angel of the Lord series, performed by Jiří Dvořák or the fairy-tale comedy With Devils There Are No Jokes (1984) about one hellish mistake, two friends and three punished sinners, based on the fairy tale The Devil’s Brother-in-Law by Božena Němcová. You can even visit some of the devil’s lairs in person. You don’t have to be afraid of devils, but especially in the last place you will really need a flashlight.
To the Devils in the Devil’s Den
Do you know the film director’s fairy tale Zdeněk Troška Devilry? Its backdrop was the fairytale hell of Čertovina near Hlinsko, fine-tuned in hellish style to the last detail. It is said to have been created in the year 666, when a devilish crew was shipwrecked in the Chrudim region. The infernalists decided to stay and began to dig. Because they turned the whole ship upside down, only the keel and the lower part of the ship remained above ground. The labyrinth of galleries, corridors, caves and dark corners has five floors, extending 12 metres underground. and it really does look like an underground fairyland. Hellfires burn here, and young and old alike are waiting The Devil’s School, hell Kitchen, caves and cauldrons for sinners, or a torture chamber equipped with trapdoors, such as a butt-plane, a hub-plane, an ear-plane, or a lochtadl. They are open all year round, but the programme is necessary book in advance. The complex also includes Hell’s Shenk, where you can enjoy devilish specialties.
To the devils in Úštěk and Žlutice
Another home of the Czech devils is Picart Tower and beautiful medieval underground, stretching under the former castle and town houses in Úštěk. From April to October you can visit the Devil Museum. A pitch-black world of infernal fun and devilish magic, full of friendly devil characters, will open up before you. You will also see many artistic images of typical local devils, from wooden statues to illustrations by painters. Karel Franta, you will be surprised by the moving Devil’s Inferno and other artistic infernal works. In addition, you will find the Devil’s Restaurant right next door.
The Devil’s hobby is apparently hereditary. Jaroslav Stejný, his son Philip has set up Hell’s Cellars in Žlutice. Similarly to Úštěk, medieval underground tunnels and cellars can be found under the historical centre of Žlutice. In addition to the devils, there is also a lapidarium where statues and other artistic artefacts from Žlutice have found a home, and it is the devils who guard them from various miscreants. The Hell Cellars are open in the summer season.
Other small hells and fairy realms
The unique home of many fairy-tale creatures, including devils and devilesses, is Staré Hrady Castle and Chateau. It’s open all year round, there are lots of events and the devils certainly don’t live here alone. In the attics, cellars and chambers you will also meet dragons, watermen, robbers, dragons, wizards and witches, ghosts, goblins and beautiful princesses.
However, you can meet devils in a number of other places, such as the Museum of Puppets and Fairy House in Český Krumlov, the Gingerbread House in Pardubice, the Haunted Museum in Pilsen or in Pelhřimov. V Pelhřimov Hell children can even turn into little devils and climb into the hell cauldron. In Heřmanice against Kodes Rock by the Oleška River you will find a charming resting place called Heřmanické peklo with a shelter and wooden figures of devils, devils and devils.
To the devil in the mountains and rocks
Plan a nice trip to the countryside with Kudy z boredy! We know of plenty of places that are named after devils or commemorate their home, hell. At Vyšší Brod you will discover The Devil’s Wall, in Bohemian Meran they have Devil’s Hump, you can take a walk in the Macha region Devil’s Gully, in the Beskydy Mountains after the Devil’s Mill nature trail with a rock formation The Devil’s Table and between Sázava and Chotouní you can explore the mysterious Devil’s furrow.
It doesn’t end there, of course, Satanists and hellraisers have become the inspiration for a number of other interesting and mysterious places – for example, another Devil’s Gully, this time near Brandýs nad Orlicí and with a legendary devil’s footbridge. Not far from Blatná you will discover the Devil’s Bracelets, near Fulnek there is The Devil’s Chapel and above Blansko towers ruins of the Devil’s Castle. The devils even had their hands in the construction of the tower of Pilsen Cathedral, and while the rock called The Devil’s Burden the devil has put on his hoof, he’s sticking his ass out at the enthusiastic hikers in Czech Canada. Anyone who’s been here understands why the rock can’t be called anything other than Devil’s Ass.
The Devil’s Head and the Gateway to Hell
Another hellish destination is Kokořínsko, where the sculptor Václav Levý carved a series of of massive stone statues and faces. The most famous of them are the Devil’s Heads, almost ten metres high, which are reached by a blue tourist trail from Želíz. Don’t worry, the path is comfortable, short and even small children can easily manage it on foot. A little further on in Vidim, you will discover the Devil’s Kvelb, and a few kilometres further on you will find the legendary domestic gateway to hell – Houska Castle. Its peculiarity is the rock that permeates the entire castle – and it is said that it leads through the gateway to hell. The castle chapel is said to stand above this breach as a “safety stopper”. It is also said that there are many underground passages and spaces in the castle where “certain things” and skeletons of “non-humans” are supposed to be buried. The place where one could enter the passages was supposed to be marked above the now defunct castle gate. Perhaps there was or is a passage to another worldwhose inhabitants may be different enough to meet the idea of the inhabitants of hell. According to another legend, a faceless figure in a black monk’s hood appears in and around Houska and watches the daredevils who would like to visit Houska at night or even spend the night there.
