Staré Hamry – Beskids, Churches and Educational Trails

Staré Hamry between the Beskids landscape and culture

Staré Hamry is located in the Beskids Protected Landscape Area (CHKO Beskydy) and combines protected nature with a distinctive regional cultural landscape. Characteristic wooden houses with pastures and small fields have been preserved in the individual parts of the municipality. Together, they shape the typical landscape of the Beskids and make the area a destination where nature observation, regional history and active excursions can be combined.

Raised bog, ravine and primeval forest

The Podgruň Natural Monument is a wet raised-bog meadow on the northwestern slope of the Gruň ridge in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids. Podgruň protects rare and protected plant species. The Draplavý Nature Reserve offers a different landscape impression: it preserves a small remnant of a primeval, forest-like fir-beech stand along the geomorphologically interesting ravine of a mountain stream. Rare and endangered plant and animal species depend on this habitat. Thus, two different nature experiences stand side by side: an open, wet raised-bog meadow and a wooded ravine area.

Wooden church on Gruň and churches in the area

One of the most striking cultural monuments is the wooden Church of the Virgin Mary on Gruň. It dates from 1887 and has a rectangular floor plan with a pentagonal presbytery. Since October 8, 2002, it has been protected as a cultural monument. Pilgrimages take place there around the Feast of Mary, Help of Christians in May. Visits are possible by prior arrangement at the nearby St. Joseph House. Anyone wishing to visit the church should therefore take this special form of access into account when planning an excursion.

A second historic site is the stone Church of St. Henry in Staré Hamry. Its foundation stone was laid on July 12, 1863; the church was completed two years later. The Gruň–Bílý Kříž educational trail is connected with it. Another cultural and historical monument is the monument to Maryčka Magdónová, which commemorates Petr Bezruč and his Silesian Songs.

Winter, cycling and educational trails

The Gruň Ski Park is available for winter sports. It has three slopes with a total length of 3.8 km, a two-seat chairlift and two drag lifts. The route “Through the Back Mountains by Bike” offers a different seasonal perspective: most of it runs along paved paths, and trekking or mountain bikes are recommended. In winter, this tour can also be undertaken on cross-country skis. Thus, depending on the season, the same described route can be experienced in different ways without reinterpreting its course.

The Gruň–Bílý Kříž educational trail begins at the Church of St. Henry in Staré Hamry and ends at the Three-Country Stone on the border between Moravia, Silesia and Slovakia. It presents the history of Staré Hamry and the construction of the Šance Reservoir. The Javořina–Němčanka–Samčanka educational trail is approximately 6.7 km long and, together with the picture trail, forms a circular route of about 9 km.

Information and getting there

At the Šance Information Centre, school classes, excursion groups and interested visitors can receive a personal guided tour. An interactive system of five touchscreens also provides information about the Šance water-management structure and the water-management system of Povodí Odry. Bus connections to Staré Hamry are available from Frýdlant nad Ostravicí via Ostravice, as well as from Turzovka in Slovakia.

More destinations in the same area

To compare other places, you can also view Dolni Lomna, Pstruží, Ropice, Fryčovice, Střítež U Českého Těšína, Komorní Lhotka, Malenovice and Bocanovice.

To the higher-level travel overview: Frýdek-Místek District.