Zeyer Trail from Vodňany to Lomec

Total length

6 km

Duration

2 hours

Terrain

Paved and unpaved paths

Difficulty level

Easy, suitable for families with older children; the route is not suitable for strollers or wheelchair users.

Marking

Yes

Route description

The Zeyer Trail begins at the bus station in Vodňany. Follow the blue tourist trail south through the Zeyer Gardens. After about 1 km, you leave the town and enter the open countryside. After 1.7 km, you reach the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, a place called Na Lázni. Zeyer used to come here to rest and bathe. Here you can also make a short detour west (0.9 km) to the nearby village of Chelčice. There you’ll find, among other things, the Petr Chelčický Memorial and a certified Natural Garden at the Chelčice St. Linhart Home.

If you continue along the blue trail, it will lead you through a four-row alley in the beautiful landscape of the Libějovicko-Lomecko Protected Heritage Zone, past the new Libějovice Chateau, and finally to the important pilgrimage site of Lomec.

Interesting places on the route

Vodňany

A historic town with a long-standing fishery tradition, where poet Julius Zeyer lived and worked. In the historical center, you’ll find the Deanery Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary from the first half of the 15th century. The fountain in the middle of the square, featuring a statue of the Allegory of Freedom, dates to 1928 and bears symbols of the town, fishery, agriculture, and industry. Visit the town museum and gallery. The well-preserved town fortifications with a water moat are unique. Walk across the stone arch bridge over the millrace with a Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk from the 18th century — this picturesque spot is called the “Vodňany Venice.” Vodňany is also home to the well-known Secondary Fisheries School and Higher Vocational School of Water Management and Ecology. The school includes a fisheries museum with an extensive collection of historical fishing equipment. About 100 fish species, both native and exotic (e.g., from the Amazon), are displayed in twenty aquariums. Local fish farmers even successfully breed freshwater stingrays here.

Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene at Lázni near Chelčice

This early Baroque octagonal chapel above a spring was built between 1660–1663 by Charles Albert de Buquoy, then-owner of the Libějovice estate. The spring was long believed to have miraculous healing powers. The chapel’s dedication commemorates his mother, Marie Magdalena de Biglia. According to legend, an angel appeared here to bless the spring, bringing healing to sick pilgrims.

Chelčice

The Chelčice area is renowned throughout Bohemia for its fruit-growing tradition, dating back to 1860. Thanks to extensive orchards, forests, and ponds, the local landscape has a unique charm, especially in spring and autumn, full of blossoms, scents, and colors. The village’s dominant landmark is the Church of St. Martin, one of the oldest monuments in the region — originally Romanesque from the 12th century, later rebuilt in Baroque and Rococo styles. Most famously, the village is the birthplace of medieval religious reformer and philosopher Petr Chelčický (1390–1460). A statue of Petr Chelčický from 1946 stands in the village square. In a renovated historic granary, you can visit a modern interactive exhibition dedicated to Chelčický, the Chelčice region, and the Libějovicko-Lomecko heritage zone.

Natural Garden in Chelčice

Near the granary stands the Chelčice St. Linhart Home, a former rectory that now houses a social therapy workshop. Since 2011, the rectory garden has been certified as a Natural Garden. It’s a wonderful spot for a walk with children in the shade of trees or to relax while listening to the buzzing of insect hotel residents or bumblebees in the bumblebee box.

Old Chateau in Libějovice

Originally a Gothic fortress, completely rebuilt in Renaissance style, located west of the village center of Libějovice. This private property partly serves as tourist accommodation.

 New Chateau in Libějovice

About 600 m past the village toward the Lomec pilgrimage site stands the New Chateau. Originally Baroque, its construction was started in 1696 by Count Filip Emanuel Buquoy to replace the Old Chateau in the village. The first stage was completed in 1754. In 1801, the estate passed to the Schwarzenberg family, who added a second floor and remodeled it in late Empire style in 1816–1817. Today, the chateau is privately owned and closed to the public. Access is also forbidden to the fenced-off expansive Libějovice Park (14.13 hectares), home to many rare tree species.

Lomec – Marian Pilgrimage Site

One of the most important Baroque pilgrimage sites in South Bohemia. The Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary was built between 1692–1702 by Count Emanuel Buquoy to house a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus. Next to the church stands the former Buquoy hunting lodge (1709–1710), now home to the Congregation of the Grey Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. Regular pilgrimages and masses are held here; the main Marian pilgrimage takes place on the Sunday following the Feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

Libějovicko-Lomecko Protected Heritage Zone

The foundation of the composed landscape of Libějovicko-Lomecko was laid during the Baroque period when the Buquoy counts, later the Schwarzenbergs, owned the estate. Grand architectural and landscaping projects were carried out around the Old and New Libějovice chateaux. After its construction, the New Chateau became the centerpiece of a grand design, linked to significant Baroque structures in the landscape by a striking compositional axis — realized as a massive four-row alley with a wide “carriageway,” connecting the chateau with the Lázně springs and the Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene to the north and, to the south, with the pilgrimage Church of the Name of the Virgin Mary on the Lomec hill.