Mionší Nature Reserve in Dolní Lomná

Photographers, from amateurs to top Czech photographers, love the beauty of the Mionší forest. The most famous are the mysterious black-and-white images of Josef Sudek, one of the greatest authors of Czech photography, who dedicated one of his pictorial publications to this natural gem.

One of the largest native forests in the Czech Republic is a closed reserve, around which an educational trail leads. It is mainly fir and beech trees that grow here, which are not mined and are left to their natural fate. As a result, there is a wealth of rare flora, protected beetles, butterflies, birds and wildlife, including bears, lynx and wolves. A guided tour is the only way to see this rare site.

The forest was created at the end of the 19th century, when the owner of the estate and cousin of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Archduke Frederick, decided not to harvest timber here so that the animals could have plenty of peace and he could pursue his hunting passion. Thanks to this decision, nature has not been touched by human hands for over a hundred years, and some of the trees are over four centuries old.