Jilemnice: City History, Museum and Active Excursions

Jilemnice Between City History and Active Days

Jilemnice combines a medieval town center with museums, historic buildings and marked trails through the town and its immediate surroundings. Here, you can discover the town’s history, explore a 7.5 km educational trail route, or include a longer cycling tour and cross-country skiing trails in your travel plans.

Historic Town Center and Notable Buildings

Masarykovo Square preserves a medieval layout and has been the heart of the town for centuries. Its fountain is an important landmark of the square and a valuable technical monument. The square is also the designated starting point of the “Jilemnice známá neznámá” educational trail. The Baroque Church of Saint Lawrence was built between 1729 and 1736 and retains a stylistically unified Baroque interior. Zvědavá ulička provides another historic accent: it is a unique example of old suburban architecture and was built largely after the town fire of 1788.

Jilemnice Castle and the Krkonoše Museum

Jilemnice Castle was built in the second half of the 16th century on the site of an older Waldstein fortress and still preserves its Renaissance core. The listed castle has housed exhibitions of the Krkonoše Museum since 1953. The permanent exhibition presents the history of the western Krkonoše Mountains from the great colonization in the 13th century through the 20th century and highlights Jilemnice as a natural center of trade and crafts. Notable exhibits include the nativity scene by Jáchym Metelka, created between 1883 and 1913. Its original mechanism moves 142 figures through 350 types of movement and sound effects. The “White Track” exhibition also presents the development of skiing in the Czech lands up to 1938.

Educational Trail, Castle Park and Routes

The “Jilemnice známá neznámá” educational trail leads through Jilemnice and its immediate surroundings and reaches a length of 7.5 km. It also leads to the Chapel of Saint Isidore. Jilemnice Castle Park covers approximately 4 hectares and contains numerous valuable woody plants. For a longer cycling circuit, the marked 24 km “Jilemnickem křížem krážem” loop is available. The route passes through Kozinec, Mříčná, Martinice, Horní Branná and Hrabačov before returning to the center of Jilemnice. The 7.5 km educational trail and the 24 km cycling loop therefore offer excursions of different lengths.

Cross-Country Skiing at the Hraběnka Area

The Hraběnka area has racing trails with a total length of almost 20 km, as well as the recreational cross-country route “Buď fit”. This allows historical discoveries and active routes to be given different emphasis when planning a trip.

More Destinations for Orientation

If you would also like to check other destinations from the same selection while planning your trip, you can find Jestrabi V Krkonosich, Hruba Skala, Horka U Staré Paky, Končiny, Dolni Stepanice, Hochstadt An Der Iser, Bukovina U Turnova and Stružinec.

For the higher-level travel overview: Semily District.