Běchary: Holiday apartments and holiday homes

Běchary combine historical landmarks, village memorial sites and distinctive natural areas.

Culture and history

The originally Gothic Church of St Adalbert in Běchary was probably built in the 14th century. After a fire in 1692, it was remodelled in the Baroque style in 1708. Today, it is a single-nave rectangular building with a polygonally ended presbytery and a three-storey prismatic tower. The church stands in the centre of Běchary on the road to Kopidlno and is surrounded by a cemetery.

The oldest surviving written mention of Běchary is associated with a land register of the Bishopric of Prague, whose creation was dated to 1283–1284 according to a later analysis. Běchary and the surrounding area have been intensively settled since the Neolithic period. Bronze temple rings from the mass grave in Běchary date the grave to the 9th century.

Villagescape

The statue of Saint Wenceslas stands in a landscaped park on the village square in Běchary. The sandstone statue was commissioned by the municipality in 1883 and created by the sculptor Antoním Myslivec from Hořice. Near the statue of Saint Wenceslas, a stone pillar with a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi stands in the park on the village square. This statue is made of light, soft sandstone; the year 1775 is inscribed on its pedestal.

Below the church, a monument to those who fell in the First World War stands in a small park. It was ceremonially unveiled on 18 May 1922.

Traditions

The performances by the amateur theatre group from Běchary focus on historical figures from Běchary, Kopidlno and the surrounding area. The Běcharáci association maintains the tradition of the carnival procession in Běchary.

Nature and landscape

The Stříble stream flows through Běchary and is a left-bank tributary of the Mrlina. Běchary lie on the boundary of the geomorphological units Jičínská pahorkatina, Středolabská tabule and Východolabská tabule.

Rybník Kojetín is a 12.1458-hectare natural monument and an important ornithological area. Migratory birds find suitable conditions there for regular stopovers and breeding; rare amphibian species and otters also live there.

Běchary has a bus stop served by the IREDO transport system in fare zone 561.

Other places in the directory: Březina U Jičína, Zelenecká Lhota, Bašnice, Volanice, Bystřice, Soberaz, Valdice, Vidochov.

To the higher-level travel overview: Jičín District.