Strážek: Cultural History, Beaver City and Hiking Trails

Strážek brings together several themes that can be clearly distinguished when planning a trip: Beaver City provides a staged historical setting, while the church and Baroque sculptures reflect the local architectural and artistic history. For outdoor activities, you can take walks on Mount Strážnice and hike to the Mitrov castle ruins. Before your trip, you can decide whether to focus on a themed attraction, religious monuments or trails with a specific destination.

Beaver City: Wyoming connection and settler life

Beaver City was founded in Strážek in 1995 as a Western town open-air museum and has a thematic connection to the US state of Wyoming. The site recreates life in American settlement towns from 1800 to 1890. The information describes different aspects: Wyoming is the thematic connection, while the period is the way of life being depicted. Within Beaver City, Fort Beaver refers to the area of the trappers’ trading post. This makes it possible to understand the site both as a staged settlement town and through a specifically named trading area.

Contemporary clothing is generally required at events in Beaver City, with a few exceptions. If you have a particular event in mind, check the dress code that applies to it in advance.

Church and Baroque sculptures

The Church of St. Simon and St. Jude in Strážek is a Renaissance building dating from 1616, with Late Gothic elements. It is a parish church with regular services; specific service times may change. Since 1958, the church, together with the Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk, has been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The statue of St. John of Nepomuk is a fine Baroque sculpture from the 18th century. Another sculptural work is the devotional monument to St. Florian in Strážek, a Late Baroque sculpture from the same century. The dates distinguish the Renaissance building from the two 18th-century sculptures; the protected status explicitly links the church and the statue.

Walks and the route to Mitrov

Mount Strážnice, at 550 m, is a destination for tourist walks near Strážek. One specific hike is the “Údolím Bobrůvky panstvím Mitrovských” excursion: it begins in Strážek and follows a blue-marked hiking trail to the Mitrov castle ruins. The tour is described as half-day; your pace will affect the actual time required. The castle ruins are close to Strážek, on a wooded hill that the Bobrůvka River flows around on three sides. They are freely accessible. Check current trail conditions before setting out.

A second historical perspective on the trails

The “Po stopách hrdelního práva ve Strážku” route passes the remains of a former execution site. This gives it a different focus from the excursion to Mitrov: there, the castle ruins are the destination; here, the remains mentioned are along the route. The two trail themes can thus be clearly distinguished without combining them into a single hike.

Discover more destinations: Sviny, Vír, Cikháj, Měřín, Kněževes, Velká Bíteš, Štěpánov Nad Svratkou, Křižánky.

For the broader travel overview: Okres Žďár Nad Sázavou.