Devil's Heads at Zelizy

Vaclav Levy was a cook in the service of the Veith family at Libechov who taught himself to carve, was noticed, and was sent to study in Prague and Munich, becoming one of the significant Czech sculptors of the nineteenth century. Before he left, between about 1841 and 1846, he carved directly into the sandstone outcrops in the woods around Libechov, and the Certovy hlavy - Devil's Heads - are the best known of that work: two enormous faces, roughly nine metres high, cut into a rock face above the Elbe valley, staring out over the trees. They are weathered now and the features have softened, which if anything improves them. Other Levy carvings are nearby on the same paths: Klacelka, a hermitage cave with reliefs of animals from a fable, a serpent's head, and Harfenice. All are free and reached on marked forest trails.

Highlights

• Two heads about nine metres high - cut into a sandstone face above the valley.
• A self-taught cook's work - carved by Vaclav Levy in the 1840s before he trained.
• Weathered features - softened by a century and a half of open air.
• Other Levy carvings nearby - Klacelka cave, a serpent's head and Harfenice.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

What to expect

It is a forest walk with no facilities; the path is muddy after rain and the carvings are unsignposted in places. The heads are weathered and less sharp than photographs suggest.

Nearby

Libechov and Melnik are south; Kokorinsko is north.