Hora Ríp as seen from Vražkov. Note the yellow waymark © Ricky Yates
Hora Ríp is a prominent hill, located about 48 km/30 miles north of Prague. It protrudes from the otherwise relatively flat Central Bohemian Plain, and is very visible and easily accessible from the D8, the Prague-Dresden motorway. Of course, there should be a hácek, a little hook, above the ‘R’ in ‘Ríp’, as there should be above the ‘c’ in ‘hácek‘. But as I have explained several times previously, the set-up of this blog cannot cope with many Czech diacritics and instead renders them as ‘?’ 🙁
Wearing my geographer hat, I can tell you that Hora Ríp is the eroded remains of a former volcano. It consists of a variety of igneous rocks that are somewhere between 34 and 23 million years old. But for Czech people, Hora Ríp is believed to be the place where the first Slav people viewed the land and decided to settle here. So it has a great cultural significance.
Climbing Hora Ríp has been on my ‘bucket list’, (to use a very American expression 😀 ), for quite some time. Yesterday evening, I duly did so. My motivation was twofold. As well as wanting to tick it off my ‘bucket list’, I also wanted to see if I could still manage several kilometres of hill walking, being aware that my left leg has been giving me problems in recent days. I don’t want to set off in two weeks time, seeking to climb Swiss mountains with Sybille, if I cannot walk up a much lower Czech hill 🙁
It took me less than an hour, to drive out of Prague to the village of Vražkov, despite having to cope with rush hour traffic and various road works. I parked my car off the road at the edge of the village, and set off along the yellow waymarked route towards the summit. Near the summit, I came to the point where the red waymarked route from the village of Ctineves, joins from the right. The sign at this junction of paths, declared that it is only a further 0.5km to the summit. I have to say that it was one of the the longest 0.5km that I have walked in a very long time 🙂
Looking back towards Vražkov from near the summit of Hora Ríp © Ricky Yates
However, just before the summit, there was this wonderful view, back towards Vražkov and beyond.
Vražkov, as seen from Hora Ríp © Ricky Yates
And by using the zoom feature on my camera, I took this picture of Vražkov. If you look closely, you can just see my car, parked on the opposite side of the road from the large white house on the right of the photograph.
The view north-west from Hora Ríp © Ricky Yates
This view is towards the north-west, with the mountains that form the Czech-German border, in the distance.
The bar is unfortunately ‘zavreno‘ © Ricky Yates
I had read that there was a bar at the summit, offering liquid refreshment to those who have exerted physical effort to climb there. There is – but it isn’t open at 19.00 on Wednesday evenings in July 🙁
Likewise, the ancient Romanesque rotunda of Saint George, built by Sobeslav I in 1126, was also not open. However, despite both of these disappointments, I still very much enjoyed my ascent and decent of Hora Ríp. And as my leg feels better today than in recent days, I hopefully will still be able to walk with Sybille, through Switzerland and into France, in two weeks time.
The Romanesque rotunda of Saint George © Ricky Yates
It looks like Rip was good practise for the Swiss/French mountains. My family have a weekend house near Roudnice so I have driven past Rip often. When I first heard the pronunciation, when I was very young, I thought it was called jeep. And when my Gran told our American relatives about Rip they thought it was called the mountain of sheep. When I learned how it was actually written I thought it was something to do with resting in peace. Fortunately, my Czech is now good enough to understand that the name refers to neither of these 3 things. A few years ago, I walked with my mum and brother up the Vltava on the red route you mention from Prague to Kralupy and the walk on to Rip was signposted from Kralupy. I think it is a European route and my brother, Mum and I said, at the time, that we will have to try and do the walk from Kralupy to Rip one day.
It was good practise, Russell, though I will need to do more during the next couple of weeks.
With regard to how ‘Ríp’ is pronounced, ‘jeep’ is relatively close, though it still doesn’t do justice to ‘r hácek’ 🙂
The red waymarked route from the village of Ctineves that I mention in this post, is a further part of the E10 route that you walked with your Mum & brother from Prague to Kralupy. After crossing the top of Hora Ríp, it continues to Roudnice.
Well done Ricky. I hope your leg improves soon. A massage could help if you know a Physio. Good luck, Heather.
Thank you, Heather. The leg is improving I’m pleased to say, mainly due to once again wearing a compression stocking for the past week, something I’ve not needed to do for a couple of years.
Your experience with the bar reminds me of the top of Snowdon in 1975!
For the benefit of Ricky’s non UK readers and those too young to remember, in the UK at that time alcohol could only be sold between 10am and 3pm and 6pm and 11pm. Our mother wished to toast her success at getting to the top of the highest mountain in Wales with a glass of brandy but as it was 3-15pm she had to settle for a cup of tea.
June
Thank you, June. You have a better memory than me. Whilst I remember getting Mum to the top of Snowdon in 1975 & can also remember what the licensing laws in England & Wales used to be at that time, I had completely forgotten this particular incident.
Glad you made it to the top and back again, Ricky, and that your leg is well enough for your forthcoming walk with Sybille. The views from the top are stunning. It must have been like looking at the promised land for the ancient Slavs.
I’m glad I made it too, Perpetua! The views are stunning & the way Czech folklore tells the story, it is very similar to Moses & the Children of Israel, observing the promised land.
Hi Ricky,
Fascinating post as always thank you. On our first family visit to Prague we went on a guided tour to Terezin and I remember seeing that mountain rising from the plains as we drove north in our bus. We knew nothing of its history or importance in Czech folklore and sadly our tour guide didn’t see fit to enlighten us; perhaps she thought it would take from the awfulness of our destination – as if anything could. Sometimes it seems as if mankind plays out their darkest acts in places of greatest natural beauty. Thank you again for an informative post and good luck with your preparations for joining Sybille on her ‘little walk’. Sean.
I’m glad you enjoyed this post, Sean. You’re quite right – you do see Hora Ríp on your right, as you drive out from Prague to Terezín. It is a shame that your tour guide told you nothing about Hora Ríp as it is such an important part of Czech folklore. But you’re also quite right – beauty and terror at very close quarters.
I feel a bit ashamed that I have not visited Ríp even though I am from the Czech Republic!
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Hi Michaela & welcome to the blog. There’s no need to feel ashamed but I would encourage you to plan a visit, some time in the not too distant future. And do note what I said near the beginning of this post about some Czech diacritics. I’ve had to slightly edit your comment as ‘Ríp’ came out as ‘?íp’ 🙁
You beat me to it – not the hill itself, but the blog post! It’s been lingering in my concepts for what I suspect is several years now… Me and my father went there one Easter Monday, in our tradition of “conquering mountains”.
We went up from the same village, I think, but then we walked on the other side all the way to Roudnice.
Hi Hana – sorry for beating you to it 🙂 In more recent times, I’ve tried to adopt the policy that, if I’ve been to a place or event about which I want to write a blog post, then that post must be written and posted no more than around ten days later, otherwise the reality is that it doesn’t get written at all. I was quite proud of myself that this post was published only twenty-four hours after I’d climbed Ríp.
I would have loved to walk on down the other side rather than retracing my steps, but I needed to return to where I’d parked the car.
Greetings from Poland! I know your Anglican counterpart here, Bob Gamble. I’d like to invite you to join our facebook group, Expat Bloggers – Europe, https://www.facebook.com/groups/263001027196474/
All the best!
Thank you Lois! Just applied to join.