Bestvina: Culture, Landscape and Hiking Trails

Bestvina combines distinctive buildings, tranquil landscapes and trails for a range of travel interests. Highlights include historic churches and chapels, the chateau at the central crossroads, the wooded Doubrava area and the Via Czechia Central Trail. If you would like to combine culture and nature in a manageable destination, you will find several concrete starting points here for your planning.

Chateau, Church and a Special Landscape Park

The parish church of St John the Baptist in Běstvina was converted from an earlier Gothic building in 1726 in the Baroque style. Another distinctive landmark is Běstvina Chateau at the main crossroads in the centre of Běstvina. The chateau is currently not open to the public. Behind the chateau, however, lies a landscape park created in the early 19th century. The chateau’s location and the historic park give the village centre a clearly recognisable cultural character, even though the chateau itself cannot currently be visited.

Chapels and Traces of the Past

The Chapel of St John of Nepomuk houses a wooden group of figures entitled “Apotheosis of St John of Nepomuk”. The chapel was probably built around 1720 and has a six-pointed star-shaped floor plan. The Chapel of the Virgin Mary, dating from the early 18th century, stands on the hill known as Vinice. The Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Virgin Mary is located on the eastern edge of Běstvina.

There is also an unusual historical landmark outside the village centre. In a forest near Běstvina in the direction of Spačice, remnants of a possibly medieval settlement can still be found. At this possible medieval settlement site, building foundations and an almost buried, stone-lined well are visible. The cautious classification as possibly medieval remains part of the history of this place.

Doubrava, Swimming and Trails through the Landscape

A nature park is located in the wooded valley of the Doubrava. In the same valley, the river flows through a rocky riverbed. The Hluboš pond provides a different landscape feature and is suitable for swimming. The weir of the Pařížov Reservoir is a cultural monument in a Gothic Revival style and complements the natural attractions with a building that has its own architectural character.

Three marked hiking trails start from Běstvina. Běstvina is also a waypoint on the Via Czechia Central Trail. Near Běstvina, the Via Czechia Central Trail enters the Železné hory Protected Landscape Area. The marked trails offer local day-hiking options, while the route into the protected area adds the landscape of the Železné hory. This makes it possible to explore the area both via local hiking trails and along a long-distance route. For travellers who want to keep several options open for their days out, local history and sacred architecture combine with woodland, water and marked trails.

Explore More Destinations

For further orientation, you can also explore Morašice, Bousov, Skuteč, Licibořice, Všeradov, Hlinsko V Cechách, Mrákotín and Kněžice for further orientation.

For the higher-level travel overview: Okres Chrudim.