Svaty Jan pod Skalou

The village sits in a narrow valley in the Bohemian Karst with a limestone cliff rising directly behind it, and the church of St John the Baptist is built against and partly into the rock: the cave where Ivan, a hermit of the ninth or tenth century, is said to have lived forms a chapel opening off the nave, with a spring in it. Ivan is the only hermit-saint venerated in Bohemia and the site was a Benedictine priory from the eleventh century, rebuilt in baroque in the 1660s by Carlo Lurago. The monastery buildings alongside were a police training school under the Communist regime and are now an educational centre. A path climbs the cliff behind to a viewpoint and a cross above the village, and the karst valleys around are walked from here. The setting - cliff, church, spring and a handful of houses in a gorge - is the reason to come.

What you actually see

• A church built into rock - with the hermit's cave opening off the nave.
• Ivan's spring - rising inside the cave chapel.
• A baroque rebuild - Lurago's work of the 1660s over the medieval priory.
• A cliff path above - climbing to a viewpoint over the valley.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The church and cave open on limited hours and close during services. Parking in the narrow valley is very restricted at weekends. The cliff path is steep. The village has one or two places to eat.

Nearby

Beroun and the Bohemian Karst caves are close; Karlstejn is south-east.