🏞️ Ponds are magical eyes of the Czech landscape, full of romance and settings for legends and fairy tales.
📜 Explore the rich, centuries-old tradition of Czech pond building, its historical significance, and environmental benefits.
🇨🇿 Discover that the Czech Republic boasts 23-24 thousand ponds and water reservoirs, covering approximately 52,000 hectares.
💧 Discover the ingenious systems created by master pond builders across the Czech Republic.
🎣 Learn about fish farming, its historical importance, and modern aquaculture practices.
🚶♀️ Enjoy popular destinations for walks, bike rides, and unique autumn fish harvests.
🦢 Observe diverse fauna and flora, as ponds provide refuge for hundreds of species.
🏛️ Explore exhibitions like the House of Nature of Třeboňsko or the House of Štěpánek Netolický to delve into the pond-building heritage.
🗓️ The golden era of pond building occurred from the mid-15th to the end of the 16th century, with an estimated 500 new ponds created annually.
🌊 Beyond fish farming, medieval masters recognized ponds' role in flood prevention by retaining and gradually releasing water.
🌍 Ponds improve local microclimate, water purity, and are used for swimming, fire reservoirs, and local irrigation, benefiting the environment, biodiversity, and local communities.
🐟 Fish meat was a permitted Lenten food, crucial for the medieval diet, with about a third of the calendar dedicated to fasting days.
📉 Despite their current prevalence, the total area of ponds today is barely a third of what it once was, with many historical ponds converted to agricultural land.
🏞️ Třeboň Pond System: A unique network in the Třeboň Basin, connected by artificial canals (Zlatá stoka, Nová řeka). This UNESCO potential heritage site is still functional and includes Rožmberk, the largest Czech pond, whose construction took over six years and involved 800 people.
🎣 Naděje Pond System: Founded by the legendary pond builder Jakub Krčín, this system includes ponds like Potěšil, Krajina, Klec, Stehlík, Rod, Pražský, and Vlkovský.
🐟 Blatná Pond System: Once boasting 228 ponds, it's known for the 'špíglák' (mirror carp) breed, celebrated with the slogan "Small head, lots of meat, the right Lnáře carp breed."
🦆 Holany Pond System: Comprising 23 ponds in the Liberec Region, it's a nesting ground for many birds near Kokořínsko Protected Landscape Area and was featured in Miloš Urban's novel Hastrman.
🏰 Hluboká Pond System: Features Bezdrev (second-largest pond) and Munický rybník, offering beautiful views of Hluboká Castle and housing a South Bohemian Zoological Garden with water bird enclosures.
🌿 Lednice Pond System: Five ponds forming a natural reserve, part of the UNESCO-listed Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape, renowned for rare bird species.
⚙️ Pardubice Pond System: Built by the Pernštejnové family, it includes Bohdanečský rybník and the Opatovický Canal, a functional technical monument from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries.
🚶♀️ Bolevec Pond System: Ten ponds in Plzeň, a popular recreational spot for residents.
🗺️ Vodňany System: More than half of its original thirty-plus ponds are preserved.
👻 Slavkov Pond System: Once the largest in South Moravia, only traces of dikes and roads remain, though the ponds were present during the 1805 Battle of Slavkov, where Napoleon reportedly drove the retreating Russian army onto their thin ice.
🍂 Experience autumn fish harvests, a traditional event (calendar available on Kudy z nudy).
⛸️ Enjoy winter ice skating on frozen ponds.
🚶♀️ Explore pond areas through walks and bike rides.
🚫 This article provides general information about pond traditions and systems, not specific details like contact info, operating hours, or pricing for individual ponds.
⚠️ Some historical pond systems have been converted to agricultural land, with only remnants visible today.