Staré Krecany – Křížová cesta, culture and trails

Staré Krecany combines a protected townscape with marked trails, rock areas, and distinctive landscape features. The main attractions are the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk and Křížová cesta; in the surrounding area, Brtníky, the source of the Mandava, and several valleys offer different opportunities for culture, hiking, and cycling. This allows you to combine a cultural stay in the town with excursions into the countryside when planning your trip.

Church and Stations of the Cross

The Křížová cesta in Staré Křečany runs along the boundary wall of the former cemetery next to the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk in the town center. It is the sixth of fourteen Stations of the Cross in the Šluknovský výběžek. The chapels and the boundary wall are protected as cultural monuments of the Czech Republic. The parish church is a large Baroque religious building, constructed as a stone church from 1736 to 1741, and has also been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic since May 3, 1958. The parish house opposite the church is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The townscape also includes several half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th centuries with boarded façades, which are now protected under heritage conservation regulations. Brtníky is characterized by log houses on the ground floor and log or half-timbered houses on the upper floor, with slate or wooden cladding. The upper floor is supported by a so-called podstávka structure, a distinctive load-bearing construction used for this type of house.

Brtníky, Trails, and Rocks

Brtníky is the starting point for several marked hiking and cycling routes for visitors to České Švýcarsko National Park. From there, the blue-marked trail and cycling route No. 3032 lead toward the Křinice Valley and the Czech-German state border. From this starting point, you can choose to focus more on hiking or cycling, depending on your interests. Numerous climbing areas lie south of the village in the valley of the Brtnický potok, the Křinice Valley, and the Kyjov Valley; a total of 472 climbing routes are registered in the Kyjov Valley and Brtníky areas.

The landscape features also provide specific points of interest: the Mandava rises west of Staré Křečany at an elevation of 460 meters; its source was restored by the Klub českých turistů. The path to Brtnický hrádek leads over dozens of steps and stairways carved into the rock.

Orientation is particularly straightforward at Brtnické ledopády: they can only be reached on foot. For your journey, you can leave your car in one of the parking areas or use bus connections to Kyjov, Vlčí Hora, or Brtníky.

When choosing your accommodation area, you can distinguish between the culturally oriented town center and the network of trails starting from Brtníky. This allows you to take your travel priorities into account as early as when searching for a suitable location.

For further regional orientation, you can also take a look at Horní Podluzí, Kytlice, Mikulášovice, Kámen, Kyjov, Malšovice, Horni Habartice, and Janská.

For the broader travel overview: Děčín District.