Mysterious staircase in the mountains of the Czech Republic. Holy Mountain

The old castle staircase was built in the 17th century, but it acquired its modern appearance in 1835-37. At first, the steps of this architectural structure were earthen, but now they have become stone. The staircase presumably received its name, which sounds like Staré zámecké schody, at the same time, when the local population began to call the 10th century road running parallel to it “Old”. Where the steps led, at that time it was personified as an impregnable castle, which was very difficult to overcome.

The staircase is 230 meters long and consists of 121 steps. It runs between high walls, connecting and. The southern wall hides gardens and the Indian Embassy. Behind the northern wall of the castle stairs is the territory of the former vineyard of St. Wenceslas, who personally produced wine and guarded it from robbers. Each subsequent flight of stairs opens up a completely new view of the city. Convenient steps lead guests to Prague to the gates.

In 2009, the staircase was restored: drains were installed, crumbling stonework was repaired, and the steps were leveled. During the restoration it was closed to tourists, who were forced to climb to Prague Castle by other roads.

Sights on the Old Castle Stairs

From the observation deck located at the very top of the Old Castle Staircase, a magnificent view of the orange Prague roofs, spiers, hills, the Vltava River and the bridges spanning its banks opens up. Directly below the site is the picturesque Fürstenberg Garden. If you use binoculars or a telescope, which are available for rent here for literally a few crowns, you can look at and even see distant and.

Climbing the Old Castle Stairs, you can see a monument to the famous Czech singer and songwriter Karel Hasler, who is also known as an actor, composer, screenwriter, director, playwright and novelist.

Next to the observation deck there is a garden in which there is a fountain sculpture depicting Samson tearing apart the jaws of a lion that attacked him. If you walk through the entire garden along the wall of Prague Castle, you can reach. Previously, this wall was the border of the property of the Institute of Noble Maidens, which was built by Empress Maria Theresa herself.

Night excursions

Several years ago they began to become popular in the Czech Republic. For this purpose, gas lamps were installed in many places, which very beautifully illuminate the ancient paving stones at night, conveying the atmosphere of medieval Prague. Such lanterns were also installed on the Old Castle Staircase. Tiled roofs in the light of gas lamps are a unique sight. In the 17th century, Prague became the fifth European city to introduce gas lighting.

When darkness falls, the panoramic view from the observation deck of the Old Castle Staircase becomes even more attractive than during the day. Many historical objects look more spectacular when illuminated than in sunlight.

Descent from the Old Castle Staircase

Some excursion programs include not only climbing the Old Castle Staircase, but also descending from it. Going down the Old Castle Staircase, city guests find themselves directly at the entrance to the Malostranskaya metro station, and next to it is the entrance to another garden -. Here you can see pink chestnut trees blooming, calm peacocks walking, and red trout and other beautiful and rare fish swimming freely in the reservoirs.

The one who walks will master the road. Stairway to Chinese sky July 12th, 2013

Hua Shan (Flower Mountain) is one of the eight sacred mountains of Taoism. Millions of Chinese make the annual pilgrimage to Hua Shan to visit the temples built right on top of the cliffs and admire the dizzying beauty along the way. Many people confuse Huashan ( Hua Shan Mountain) and Huanshan.

It sounds similar, but, as is already clear, the mountains are completely different. And the distance between them is 1000 km. The entrance to the mountain begins at the Taoist temple. The paths are lined with the symbol of Taoism - the unity of yin and yang.

Most of the road will have to be climbed in continuous fog. Very beautiful, but a little damp. On the one hand, it’s good that you don’t feel thirsty, but on the other hand, the T-shirt doesn’t dry out at all, and it quickly becomes cold at the rest stop.

The road is very well maintained, first (about 4 km) a stone path going up quite steeply, then steps with handrails or chains instead of handrails (about 2-3 km). Every 400-500 m there are marks indicating how much has been covered. Every 300-400 meters there are tents selling drinks and chifan. There are toilets every 500 meters.

Periodically there are “attractions”. These are the places where every Chinese person dreams of leaving their mark. Such places are easily identified by red ribbons and locks (it seems that this tradition has long become international). It’s good that there are few such “attractions”. In other places, such traces of civilization are carefully removed by park staff.

The finale of the ascent will be the ascent along the Blue Dragon Ridge (blue dragon rib). This is a staircase going steeply upward, with a cliff on the right and a cliff on the left.

White fluffy clouds floating right at your feet add a touch of unreality to what is happening.

Transportation: Take the Xi'an-Huayin bus from Xi'an Chengdong Bus Station.

Hua Shan Mountain, Shaanxi Province, China.

One of the five sacred mountains of Taoism in China, located in the Qinling Range. The mountain is famous for its picturesque cliffs and the difficult, dangerous climb to the top. The mountain path connects many peaks up to the highest 2160 m.

South Peak (Falling Goose Peak) - 2154.9 m

North Peak -1614.9 m

West Peak - 2082.6 m

East Peak - 2096.2 m

Central Peak (Jade Girl) - 2037.8 m

This is a unique mountain route. Along the road there are numerous Taoist monasteries, pagodas, temples, gates and bridges.

“If you have visited the five sacred mountains of China, then you don’t have to go to other mountains, and if you have visited Huashan, then you don’t need the other four.”, say the Chinese. The Hua Mountains were formerly called Xiyue, "Western Mountains." Name Huashan, “Blooming Mountain”, they received due to the similarity of their five peaks: East, West, South, North and Central - with a lotus flower.

Mountains Huashan are closely associated with Taoism and are mentioned in its early texts as one of the places suitable for Taoist religious practices and alchemy. They say that he Lao Tzu lived in these places. (Lao Tzu (6-5 centuries BC) is the semi-legendary founder of Taoism, one of the most significant movements in the philosophical thought of China; tradition calls him the author “Tao Te Ching” - “Books about the Daopath and good si-le-de”).

Most of the buildings were erected here during the reign of the dynasty Ming (1368–1644). The monastery has been well preserved to this day Yuquan XI century, temple Dongdao 1714 and the palace Zhengyue Yuan Dynasty. In December 1990, UNESCO introduced Huashan to the List of World Natural Heritage Sites.

This place is a very popular domestic tourism destination. You can climb the mountain on foot or by cable car. Traditionally, pilgrims climbed only on foot and spent the night under one of the mountains, and the next day they walked around all five peaks.

This is the view you should see when you climb these steep stairs.

Remember, I showed you this staircase to heaven:

China, Taihang mountains

Residents of villages located near the Taihang Mountains (Henan Province) are much luckier, because they have the so-called “Stairway to Heaven” - a 300-foot spiral staircase leading to the top of one of the mountains.
Judging by the photo above, climbing it is a real pleasure. One of the officials working in the local administration spoke very poetically about this, without the slightest shadow of a doubt, grandiose structure as follows: “While climbing the stairs, even in the most intense heat, you feel a fresh breath of a cool breeze, an absolutely wonderful chirping reaches your ears birds, you hear the steps creaking. Can any despicable elevator or funicular railway compare with this miracle?
However, it is worth noting that the official himself found it difficult to answer the question - how many times did he himself have to climb to such a height?

We arrived in Pribram around noon and parked the car. Then (2006) it was free, as we don’t know now. The stairs led up through the garden. When approaching the monastery on the Holy Mountain, an oak tree grows, its age is several hundred years. Thick! The wife and son could not even grasp half of the “giant”; two more people were needed. Its girth is almost 6 meters and its height is 18 meters. We got up.

A spacious square opened before us, behind which there was a monastery complex fenced with a high wall. This has been a place of pilgrimage for Christians since the 16th century. Holy Mountain Pribram Czech Republic.
The origin of this place has many different legends. One of them says the following. At the foot of the hill, the knight Malovets was attacked by robbers, but the shining image of the Mother of God with a child in her arms that appeared above the hill put the robbers to flight. Knight Malovets ordered a chapel to be built on the hill as a sign of his miraculous salvation. This, according to legend, happened in the 13th century. And in the 17th century, an old man came to the blind weaver Jan Prochazka in a dream and ordered him to go to the Holy Mountain and worship the Mother of God. The weaver fulfilled the will of the elder. Arriving at the chapel on the mountain, he began to pray and received his sight. This miracle was passed on from mouth to mouth, and pilgrims began to come here in droves. To restore order, the chapel was transferred to the management of the Jesuits. The first thing they did was build a bell tower over the chapel, placing a bowl with a constantly burning fire there so that the pilgrims could see where to go.

They also built a staircase from the chapel to the town of Příbram.
Everyone who came to the chapel donated money, and with these funds a whole complex was built. Monastery Holy Mountain Pribram Czech Republic has a quadrangular shape. A basilica was erected on the site of the former chapel; several chapels are now located within its walls. The ceiling and lunettes are decorated with frescoes depicting the miracles performed by the Virgin Mary. In front of the entrance to the monastery complex, a sculpture of the Virgin Mary with a baby in her arms was installed,

made personally by the Czech Archbishop Arnost of Pardubice. According to Catholic canons, shrines can be crowned, so in 1732 this figurine was crowned.
Yes, all this is interesting and beautiful, but some popes, oddly enough, are ill for a long time and painfully, some die painfully. And prayers don't help. And the saints do not give them health. And the Virgin Mary looks at their illnesses without compassion. Why doesn't she listen to their pleas? Maybe dads are sinning? Is it because after the death of Jesus, the Pope’s teaching was greatly modified, bringing it closer to the conditions required by a democratic modern society, but the Mother of Jesus does not really like this and, for all her holiness, the credit of trust of the Most Holy Theotokos in the Holy Church has exhausted itself? Wait and see.
On the slopes of the hill of the monastery complex Holy Mountain Pribram Czech Republic A cherry orchard was planted. We were at a time when the fruits were in their very juice. People walked around the garden and ate cherries, we also walked through the garden and tasted cherries grown on the holy land. Delicious, what can I say.
But we need to go further, there is an overnight stay and inspection ahead.

The nature of China has always surprised us with its unusualness and uniqueness. Here you can see natural attractions that you won’t find anywhere else. Just look at the mountains in the central part of the country. Indescribable natural landscapes that attract beauty lovers, tourists and those who want to tickle their nerves. And it’s not easy to tickle your nerves. After all, in order to climb some mountains, unusual stairs were built, which not everyone dares to climb. Next we will talk about two regions in which the objects of interest to us are located.

The first thing that interested me was Mount Huashan. All the same, which was already mentioned earlier, in the topic about. It is one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism, located in the Qinling Range, Shaanxi Province. The mountain is famous among tourists and pilgrims for its monasteries, pagodas, bridges and a mountain route that rises up to the very top, to a height of 2130 meters. One of the sections of this route consists of stepped, complex, dangerous and unusual stairs, some of which reach a vertical position. The steps are carved into the rocks. Some of them are without railings; more precisely, they are presented in the form of chains attached to solid rock. Every 400-500 meters there are marks indicating how much distance has been covered, tents with drinks and toilets. Before the advent of tourists, staircases were carved for pilgrims to climb the sacred mountain.

The second interesting place is the Taihangshan mountain range. There are also unusual stairs that not everyone can climb. One of them is located in Henan province. To climb one of the mountains, a traveler must not only overcome his fear of heights, but also have a very developed vestibular apparatus. Locals call this structure “Stairway to Heaven.” It is an iron pillar, around which steps wind in a spiral, like a snake. Its height is a little 91.5 meters, that is, the height of a 30-story building. Those climbing must be extremely careful, since there is no insurance. All safety is provided by welded railings. Not everyone can climb it; there are certain requirements. The candidate's age should not exceed 60 years and people with diseases of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are not allowed. A representative of the local administration expressed this about this staircase: “When climbing the stairs, even in the most intense heat, you feel a fresh breath of a cool breeze, the wonderful chirping of birds reaches your ears, you hear the steps creaking. Can any despicable elevator or funicular compare with this miracle?

Those who want to tickle their nerves, but not on such an extreme structure, can climb a less impressive staircase in the same mountains, Taihangshan. It has probably become a custom to build unusual staircases here. This one consists of narrow iron steps driven into the rock, but without protective railings. To make the climb not so scary for the traveler, a chain was screwed to the rock, which he could hold on to, or attach a safety rope.