Czech Paradise, Syřenov - Újezdec

The village Újezdec is situated on the closed forest clearing, at high altitude, on the eastern slopes of volcanic rock Bradlec with the ruins of an eponymous castle. It represents an excellent collection of folk architecture, one of the best preserved in the whole region. In 2004 it  became rightly the rural conservation area. It is immediately noticeable when you look at the surrounding buildings, which are all in similar style as our cottage - i.e. timbered and very nice. On one side, the valley is guarded by the ruins of the Bradlec castle, on the other side it is opposed by the ruins of the Kumburk castle. Our cottage looks down on all this beauty from a slight hill.  It is surrounded by a meadow and part of a forest belongs to it !

We take a health walk, in order to deserve it, an after about 1.5 km we get to the pub Na Klepandě, where there is crossroads of hiking trails and of course possibility of refreshment and food. The pub is open on Saturday and Sunday and there's pretty good food.

It is possible to take family trips even with small children to  both ruins, which are not far from the cottage (Bradlec approx. 500 m and Kumburk 3 km). We recommend to all other people: "Discover the beauty of Český ráj," which is within reach.

Layout

• Two separate parts - the attic and the basement
• Large terraced garden with breathtaking views of the ruins of the Kumburk castle and green pastures of the valley
• Barn for storage of bikes.

Reconstruction

The first reference to cottage No. 7 in Újezdec is from 1715. Hence, it is impressively old. Unfortunately, during reconstruction we had to tear down the oldest back part which was apparently original and the whole centuries it was under the pressure of the adjacent slope.   It was rotten and statically disturbed. We preserved its front part, however, it is not so old, because the cottage about 110 years ago was partly destroyed by fire and was rebuilt. The reconstruction was very time consuming and costly, but if only for the place where the cottage now boasts its new appearance, it was worth it.

How we had a good romp is documented by Chronicle of reconstruction of the Újezdec cottage.

Services

• The nearest shop: Syřenov (about 3 km), Jičín (8 km)
• Pub: Na Klepandě - a stylish village pub, cards on Sunday, good food (about 1.5 km)