Kuneticka Hora

Kuneticka hora is a volcanic plug of about three hundred metres rising out of the flat Elbe plain east of Pardubice - the only hill for a long way - and a castle has stood on it since the early fifteenth century, rebuilt in late Gothic and Renaissance for the Pernstejn family into a residence with towers, a palace and a gate. It declined after the Thirty Years War. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the hill was quarried for basalt on a scale that undercut the castle and threatened to bring it down; quarrying was stopped and the site was consolidated from the 1920s in a long campaign led by Dusan Jurkovic, which is why the hill has a bitten-out shape on one side. The castle is now roofed in part with an exhibition, and the tower gives a view over the whole plain to the Zelezne hory.

What to look for

• A castle on a lone volcanic plug - the only hill in a wide flat plain.
• A quarried hillside - basalt extraction that nearly destroyed the site.
• Pernstejn rebuilding - late Gothic and Renaissance palace and gate.
• A view over the plain - from the tower, as far as the Zelezne hory.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

What to expect

Guided tours only for the interiors, seasonal. The climb is short but steep. The exhibition is modest. Weekend crowds come out from Pardubice.

Nearby

Pardubice and its Renaissance chateau are eight kilometres west.