Němětice: Volyňka, Folk Architecture and History

Němětice between the Volyňka and the Bohemian Forest

Němětice lies in the Volyňka Valley in the Šumava foothills at the foot of the Bohemian Forest. The southern side of the Peklov Valley is partly formed by a wooded ridge with the peaks of Kráva and Ostrý vrch. At 622 metres, Kráva is the higher peak; Ostrý vrch reaches 591 metres. Those wishing to combine natural landscapes with cultural history will find a range of different destinations in Němětice.

Folk architecture around the village green

At the northern edge of Němětice, on the road between the village green and the main road, stands the Baroque farmstead No. 29. The protected area includes the residential building, stables, a barn, a masonry gate and the enclosed plots. In the area around Volyně, the farmstead is one of the finest examples of folk architecture.

Other buildings add a variety of forms and construction details to the village scene. House No. 8 on the road still has a timber-framed room and a gabled end clad in boards. A timber-framed room is a room built using a wooden structure. House No. 2 is simpler in design and has a triangular gable. A chapel with a simple stepped gable and a bell in the roof ridge stands on the village green. The Chapel of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a masonry building with a rectangular ground plan and a three-sided apse, built in the style of rural Baroque. Rural Baroque is a rural form of Baroque architecture.

Traces from the Iron Age to local history

Another historic site is Hradec. It lies on a spur south of the Peklov stream, about 600 metres southeast of the chapel in Němětice. The Hradec-Hradiště hillfort near Němětice occupies a spur, that is, a projecting section of terrain above the Volyňka, and was inhabited during the Iron Age and the hillfort period. The settlement of Hradec-Hradiště therefore predates the foundation of Němětice in 1315.

Němětice was founded in 1315 on land belonging to the ruler, together with several other villages in the surrounding area, by Queen Eliška Přemyslovna. The local history thus encompasses both the early settlement of Hradec-Hradiště and the medieval foundation, as well as the rural building culture that has survived from later periods.

Routes, the river and trails

The Zlatá stezka route runs via Radošovice and Němětice to Volyně. Cold-water swimmers can bathe in the Volyňka. A cycle path also runs through Němětice along the Volyňka and the holiday-home area; part of this cycle path was funded in 2006. This gives visitors exploring the village several clearly distinct points of reference: a regional route, the river landscape and the historic buildings.

More places to explore

For further orientation, you can also open the locality pages for Mnichov, Myštice, Kadov, Sedlice U Blatné, Lažánky, Pole, Prední Zborovice and Nihošovice.

For the higher-level travel overview: Strakonice District.