Ustek

Ustek sits on a narrow sandstone ridge, which meant the town could not spread sideways, and the response was to build outwards over the drop: a row of small timber houses stands on the eastern edge with their backs cantilevered out on posts above the rock, called the Ptaci domky, the bird houses, put up mostly in the early nineteenth century for Italian workers building the railway and for the poor of the town. Seen from below they appear to hang off the cliff. One is open as a museum showing how the rooms were used. The town above has a long arcaded square with sgraffito and painted facades, a Gothic church, and a synagogue of 1794 with a rabbi's house, restored and open, marking a Jewish community that lived here into the twentieth century. The ridge and the ponds below make the setting.

What you actually see

• The bird houses - timber cottages cantilevered out over the rock face.
• One open as a museum - showing how the cramped rooms were lived in.
• An arcaded square - sgraffito and painted facades along the ridge top.
• A synagogue of 1794 - restored, with the rabbi's house beside it.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The bird houses are best seen from the path below, and only one is open. The synagogue keeps limited seasonal hours and closes Saturdays. The town is very small.

Nearby

Litomerice is south-west; Kokorinsko is east.