Panska Skala

Panska skala is a basalt intrusion where the lava cooled slowly and contracted into regular columns, mostly five and six-sided, twelve to fifteen metres tall, standing upright in a close-packed wall - the classic columnar jointing seen at the Giant's Causeway and Fingal's Cave, and the best example of it in the Czech lands. It was quarried in the nineteenth century for road stone, which is what exposed the face so cleanly and left a small pool at the foot that reflects the columns, and it was protected in 1895, making it one of the earliest geological reserves in Europe. It is small: the whole thing takes twenty minutes to walk round and up, and it stands directly beside a road with parking. It appears in the Czech fairy-tale film Pysna princezna and in a long list of photographs, and it is one of those places that is genuinely striking and genuinely brief.

What you actually see

• Five and six-sided columns - twelve to fifteen metres tall in a close-packed wall.
• A reflecting pool - left by the quarrying at the foot of the face.
• Protected since 1895 - among the earliest geological reserves in Europe.
• A quarried face - which is what exposed the columns so cleanly.

When to go

April to October. An hour.

Honest expectations

It is very small - twenty minutes covers it, and it does not justify a long trip on its own. It sits beside a road with traffic. Parking is limited at weekends. Combine it with Kamenicky Senov's glass museum.

Nearby

Kamenicky Senov and its glass museum are close; Lake Macha is south.