9. The longer czech walk
THE ROUTE IS MARKED IN GREEN (map no. 9):
Ul. Nádražní – ul. Jablunkovská – ul. Viaduktová – ul. Aląova –ul. Koperníková – ul. Hrabinská – ul. Slezská – ul. Hornická – Hrabina park – dam Hrabina – ul. Lipová – ul. Sokolovská – ul. Komenského – ul. Divadelní – nám. Dr. Martina Luthera – ul. Gymnazijní – ul. Komenského – ul. Tyrąova – ul. Frýdecká – ul. Svojsiková – Billa car park– ul. Nádražní
Length of walk: 6.5 km
We are going on a long walk taking in nature monuments and other places of interest in this famous border town which was founded on 28 July 1920 after historic Cieszyn was divided into two towns. Český Těąín has a population of 26,573 (data from 1 March 2001). The border between the two towns was fixed on the River Olza.
This walk will not be taking you to the town centre (walks no. 1 and 8 will see to that). Instead we take the pedestrian subway under the railway tracks towards ul. Jablunkovská.
First we will have a look at the ČD railway station (fig. 14.). It was built in 1889, replacing the previous station building dating from 1871 which stood not far away in ul. Jablunkovska. The station was built following the construction of the Bohumin-Cieszyn line in 1869 – which was later extended to Žilina and Frýdek. Today the Český Těąín junction links the Prague – Koąice main line with connecting lines to Ostrava, Frýdek-Místek and Bielsko-Biała, via Cieszyn. Standing with our back to the station on the right we see the Czech Post Office building, designed by the Prague architect Zdražil and directly in front the Hotel Piast, designed by the local architect Edward David. Both buildings date from 1931.
After coming out of the subway we turn right along ul. Jablunkovská and come to the traffic lights at the junction of ul. Frydecká and ul. Ostravská. We continue our walk by passing through another smaller subway (called the Demelloch after the mayor of Cieszyn from the second half of the 19th century, Jan Demel) and arriving at ul. Viaduktová. We cross the street using the pedestrian crossing and a few metres later turn into ul. Aląova. We can admire a remarkable ash tree on the left of the junction of ul. Aląova and ul. Komorní (fig. 116). This tree, whose age is estimated at 150 years, is the property of the Town Council, and it was registered as a nature monument on 2 February 1998. Its dimensions are; height 21 metres, height of crown 15 metres, diameter of crown 10 and girth of 4.2 metres.
We go along ul. Aląova to the junction with ul. Kopernika, which we turn right into. We continue to the junction with ul. Hrabinská and then bear left up the hill towards the housing estates which were built in several stages in the Rozvoj district. The work began on land between ul. Hrabinská and ul. Ostravská in 1967. Today around 1600 people live here. Somewhat fewer people live on the estate in ul. Hrabinská, whose first residents moved in 1963 and 1964. Next to be built was the Mojská Estate; a model example of J. Slezák’s group of architects and awarded second prize in a national competition for the best designed estate. The estate, located between ul. Slezska and the Park Hrabina, houses around 1800 residents.
We turn right at the end of ul. Hrabinská, go about 100 m along ul. Slezská, then turn left by block no. 9 into ul. Hornicka. On the right is the Riding Club at the Český Těąín Agricultural High School. The club make use of farmland belonging to the school and the way in is from ul. Slezská. Apart from riding the club offers agrotourism, hippotherapy, carriage driving and stabling facilities. Non-members can also go horse-riding here, and to facilitate that the club’s buildings were recently extended.
Ul. Hornická bends to the left and on the right we see the town’s lido built in the early 1970s in the location of the earlier open-air swimming pool, dating from 1924, which was used until the Těąín Reservoir was built. If the weather is not suitable we take the tarmac footpath behind the lido to the rear of the estates (shown in black on the plan). We walk along the edge of the wooded Hrabina Park to ul. Ostravská, which we cross, arriving at the Těąín Reservoir. We walk along the footpath running around the reservoir, which is dug up at the moment near the end owing to the construction of Route R48, go through the subway under the highway to ul. Lipová (signs marked in green).
If the weather is fine we descend the slope near the swimming pool to the bridge over the Hrabinka, which we cross. We then turn left and walk through Hrabina Woods. This mixed woodland is first mentioned during the rule of the Prince of Cieszyn Wacław Adam II (1540-79), who had a menagerie here where he bred fallow deer. At the beginning of the 19th century the woods were gradually tidied, organised and changed into a place of leisure and relaxation. It is still a place to relax in. The path initially takes us along the Hrabinka, then along its smaller tributaries across four wooden bridges until we reach a barrier where we turn left into ul. Ostravská. We follow the road round to the right for a while to the junction with ul. Rybařská which we join until we get to Těąín Reservoir (fig. 117). It was constructed according to plans drawn up in 1950 for a reservoir in Hrabina Woods. The building was begun owing to the increased pollution in the River Olza caused by the Třinec Steel Works. The Olza had been used for many years for swimming. A dam was built on the Hrabinka, which at that time flowed through a deep valley, and its banks were reinforced. The result was a not very wide but fairly long reservoir. The Těąín Reservoir is mainly used for water sports, but is also a leisure park for local people. The only unfortunate feature is the close proximity of Route R48.
The footpath around the reservoir leads us to the subway beneath the road which at present is under construction and we come out at ul. Lipová. We turn left and go along it uphill passing the military equipment repair works and the former barracks now housing the small FINIDR printing works. When the weather is fine you can see part of the Cieszyn Beskid mountain range. Starting from the left there is Ostrý, Javorový with its ski-lift, the highest peak Ropice (1082 m), Ropička, Praąivá, and in the background the highest peak of the Moravian Silesian Beskid Mountains; Lysá hora (1328 m).
We continue along ul. Lipová until we reach the junction with ul. Sokolovská. We turn left and soon catch sight of the recently finished Český Těąín old people’s home. We turn right in front of the home, walk along parallel to buildings at the back of the hospital and reach ul. Komenského. Soon after we come to ul. Divadelní. On the left by the footpath leading to the Český Těąín Theatre is the newly reconstructed Airmen’s Monument (fig. 118), commemorating the airmen from the town and region who died during World War II. The monument was unveiled on 6 October 2000. On this spot there had previously been a monument to the memory of the victims in the fight with Nazism which included an IL 10 warplane on a plinth of 130 cm with two marble plaques, unveiled in 1965. The monument is set in a small park. We go a short way back along ul. Divadelní and then cut diagonally across a small park to the left by the Protestant Church of Martin Luther. The ONV Estate, built in the 1940s and 50s, can be seen on our left. It is an example of good post-war architecture with plenty of greenery. Around 250 people live on the estate.
The church, which suggests a Romanesque dominates the Rozvoj Estate. The place of worship of the congregation of the Czech Lutheran Church, it was built in 1927. It was designed by architects Kozieł and Schön of Bielsko and built by the E. Fulda building firm of Český Těąín. The vicarage was built four years later by the R. Lewak company of Český Těąín. We arrive at the Komenský Primary School in ul. Komenského by walking across the park in front of the church along ul. Gimnazijní. The foundation stone was laid on 3 July 1923. The construction was carried out by the following firms; Nosek-Richter of Český Těąín was responsible for the main building, V. Felkl of Novy Bohumin built the sports hall and Wicherek of Český Těąín – the director and janitor’s flats. The estimated cost of building was 3.5 million Czech crowns. It was officially opened on 28 October 1924. Its building solved the problem of the lack of schools after the division of Cieszyn. We come to the Agricultural High School on the left hand side of ul. Tyrąa. The building dates from 1929 when it was built to house the district administration offices originally based in the old school in ul. Sokola Tůmy. In addition there was the court, the procurator’s office, the notary’s office, the prison and a police station. During the administrative reorganisation of Czechoslovakia in 1960 Český Těąín lost its status as a district capital and the school of agriculture took over the premises previously used by the local authority departments. Opposite the primary school in ul. Tyrąa is a small park called sady Komenského and the Health Centre. The park was founded soon after the houses in the vicinity were built and looked after by a municipal association set up to beautify the town. An „Esperantists’ lime-tree” was planted here and several erratic blocks from around Český Těąín,(fig.119) evidence of the southernmost extent of the northern glacier in the Quaternary Period (from 8,000 B.C. onward) were put here. At one time a World War Two IL 10 warplane stood here, which later became part of the monument against fascism behind the theatre.
The health centre was built in 1931 as the headquarters of the local branch of the General Health Insurance Fund. V. Barvíř of Český Těąín designed the building and V. Nekvasil’s firm carried out the building work. Today there is the health centre, private clinics, and the headquarters of the General Health Insurance Fund of the Czech Republic (VZP).
From sady Komenského we walk along by the side of the school (fig.120) to ul. Frýdecká which we cross and then turn into a lane called Svojsíková kaątanová alej. A. B. Svojsík was the founder of Czech scouting. In Svojsíková kaątanová alej there is a sports complex with an indoor ice-rink. We come to the subway under the railway tracks close to the České spořitelny Bank and the Billa supermarket, both built in the 1990s. As we emerge we arrive at the main building of Český Těąín ČD railway station having finished our tour of interesting sights and nature monuments in Český Těąín.