Discover Vlčkovice v Podkrkonoší

Vlčkovice v Podkrkonoší brings together a long local history, distinctive buildings, and marked trails. For planning your trip, you can choose between different focuses: cultural history around the Church of St. Joseph and the smithy in Horní Vlčkovice, or getting active on cycling and hiking routes. This lets you decide whether architecture and historical context or a route should shape your trip.

Church and smithy: distinctive architectural details

The Church of St. Joseph is a single-nave building with a tower on its western façade, no clearly defined presbytery, and a polygonal end. “Single-nave” describes the layout of the church interior; “polygonal” refers to the many-sided shape of the building’s end.

The presbytery is the choir area of a church. Saying that it is not clearly defined describes how distinct it is from the nave; the polygonal end, by contrast, describes the shape at the end of the building. The two terms therefore refer to different features: the layout of the church interior and the geometry of its end.

The church is regarded as a simple rural place of worship, typical of the mid-19th century. Restrained elements such as the windows and entrance portal draw on late Neoclassical forms. This combines the classification of the building type with specific stylistic details of individual elements.

The main altar features a painting of Saint Joseph with the infant Jesus by Lorenz of Kuks. The subject of the painting directly connects the altarpiece with the name of the church.

The smithy at Horní Vlčkovice No. 21 is a protected cultural monument. It is vaulted and has a horseshoeing shed with carved wooden columns at the front. The two buildings have different architectural focal points: at the church, these are the floor plan, tower, and Neoclassical forms; at the smithy, the vault and carved columns of the horseshoeing shed stand out.

History of the town

The first written mention of Vlčkovice appears in a 1415 purchase agreement between Jan Městecký z Opočna and Žofie, the widow of Jan Rothstein z Rothze. The agreement states that the village was founded in 1410. The two years have different roles: 1415 refers to the agreement and the first written mention, while 1410 is the founding year stated in it.

In 1778, the Prussian king Frederick II (Bedřich II) established his headquarters in Vlčkovice. Several mass graves of Prussian soldiers are also located in the town.

Routes and activities

Cycling route No. 4098 passes through Vlčkovice, and a blue-marked hiking route also runs through the town. When planning, the two routes are easy to distinguish: the number identifies the cycling route, while the blue marking identifies the hiking route. The nearby Kuks Hospital can be reached on foot or by bike via the blue route toward Kuks. Check the current markings and route conditions before setting out.

The fenced multi-purpose sports court in Vlčkovice is intended for tennis, nohejbal, and volleyball; it also has a table tennis area. If you are planning to rent it, check availability before your visit.

Discover more destinations: Libňatov, Dolní Lyseciny, Krenov, Rtyne V Podkrkonosi, Johannisbad, Velehrádek, Chvaleč, Dolni Branna

For the overview of the wider area: Okres Trutnov.