Kostníky: Cultural Heritage and Nature Conservation

Kostníky combines protected nature with historic buildings and memorial landmarks. For planning your trip, it therefore helps to distinguish clearly: are you more interested in forest and rocky habitats, or in churches, chapels and roadside shrines?

Suché skály Nature Reserve

The Suché skály Nature Reserve lies within the municipality and cadastral area of Kostníky. It protects natural forest communities with relict pines, as well as scree and rocky vegetation. Its natural features also include populations of rare and endangered plants and animals, particularly the critically endangered Moravian pink (Dianthus moravicus). The reserve thus protects both a variety of habitats and rare species. If you take nature conservation into account when choosing your destination, Suché skály is a notable point of reference in Kostníky: forest, rocky and scree vegetation all form part of this protected natural area.

Church, bell and historic orientation

The Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is early Baroque and dates from 1696. It stands in Hájek, on a wooded ridge at the southern edge of Kostníky. Its construction date, style and location offer different points of reference: the date places the church in a particular period, while Hájek and the ridge identify its specific place in the local landscape.

Another historic detail can be found in the village square. A modern bell tower there houses a bell bearing the year 1662. This date belongs to the bell, not to the construction of the modern tower. The church and bell thus point to different periods and show why the date of a building can differ from that of an object it contains.

Chapels and roadside shrines

East of Kostníky, on the road to Vysočany, stands a small rectangular niche chapel in the Classicist style. A roadside shrine dating from the 17th century stands on the road to Kdousov, and another, from the early 18th century, is on the road to Police. The three features can be distinguished by their form, location and date: the niche chapel is described as Classicist, while the two roadside shrines are identified by their respective roads and periods of construction.

“Brána” is also a historic point of reference: this is the name by which the only historic entrance to Kostníky is known. The name adds a reference to the village’s former spatial orientation to its historic buildings.

More local history

The remote settlement of Rajmundský mlýn lies east of Kostníky. An old mill with a sawmill is located there on the Bihanka, below a small reservoir. The mill is not accessible. It is therefore a feature of local industrial heritage, but not an accessible sightseeing attraction. This is distinct from the churches and roadside shrines that shape the village’s sacred heritage.

Kostnický košt is also part of Kostníky’s event history: numbered editions were held between 2013 and 2026. The Kostnický košt slivovice is recorded for the period from 2013 to 2024.

The buildings and local landmarks point to several historical layers; Suché skály represents habitats and species conservation.

Discover more destinations: Červená Lhota, Vlčatín, Chlístov, Zašovice, Ostašov, Čikov, Kožichovice, Nové Syrovice.

For the broader travel overview: Třebíč District.