Vrbčany: Holiday Apartments and Holiday Homes

Vrbčany combines an unusually early ecclesiastical history with an early medieval fortified site and diverse landscapes in the surrounding area. Streams, rocky steppe and traces of former fortifications come together here in several distinct facets within a small area.

Culture and History

Before the year 999, a Romanesque stone predecessor of St. Wenceslas Church was built in Vrbčany. Its remains were discovered during an archaeological investigation of the church in the 1930s. The church also houses the Pazderňák bell, which was cast in 1592 and bears the coat of arms of the Smiřický family as well as a relief of Christ on the Cross.

The early medieval hillfort of Vrbčany is situated on a low spur of land above the confluence of the Vrbčanský potok and the Výrovka. The distinctive changes in elevation in the present-day fields near the hillfort are the last visible traces of its former fortifications. The rampart surrounding the fortified area near the church in Vrbčany is approximately 184 metres long and up to 1.6 metres high. From the village centre, the hillfort can be reached via steps to the church promontory and then along unmarked paths in an easterly direction.

A 296-kilogram bell of St. Wenceslas Church was consecrated on 29 September 1946. It is still used today to announce the death of a resident of Vrbčany or an important ecclesiastical event.

Nature and Landscape

The Výrovka stream flows through Vrbčany, where the Vrbčanský potok flows into it. In the surroundings of Vrbčany, Velká Stráž lies to the northwest, above the village. There is a partially flooded, disused quarry with a pond and a landscape with a steppe character.

In the surroundings of Vrbčany, Velká Stráž provides a habitat for wild ducks, coots, fish, numerous frogs, dragonflies, lizards and other small reptiles, as well as breeding marsh harriers. At the same time, the Velká Stráž quarry in the surroundings of Vrbčany is a climbing area with 17 listed routes distributed across the right, central and rear sections.

In the surroundings of Vrbčany, the Stráně u splavu Nature Reserve protects thermophilous plant communities of the rocky steppe, as well as numerous specially protected and endangered drought- and heat-loving plant and animal species on the rocky slopes of the Výrovka valley.

Discoveries

Vrbčany is stop 6 of the regional project “Tajuplná místa Podlipanska”. The project includes a free pocket guide for walks to places surrounded by mysteries and legends.

Other places: Pečky, Pňov-Předhradí, Polepy, Křečhoř, Dománovice, Kšely, Veletov, Libenice

To the higher-level travel overview: Kolín District.