A protected landscape area around Beroun and Karlštejn with extensive limestone formations, caves and rock steppes, declared in 1972.
The Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area lies at an elevation of 199 to 499 metres in a territory which, according to the Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (Administration of the Bohemian Karst PLA), contains the largest continuous limestone area in Bohemia [1][2]. The area was declared on 19 September 1972 [2].
Geology and karst phenomena
According to the PLA administration, limestone makes up most of the geological structure of the area [1]. It is a sedimentary rock that formed from the calcareous shells of marine invertebrates 400 million years ago [1]. The ability of limestone to dissolve in water and, under suitable conditions, to be deposited again makes possible the process known as karstification [1]. Thanks to it, the landscape of the Bohemian Karst is, according to the PLA administration, furrowed by karren, canyons and gorges and riddled with caves, of which about seven hundred have been discovered here [1]. The PLA administration states that other geological processes also contributed to the formation of the varied, hilly landscape [1].
Almost every fossil in the area comes from limestone, and the Bohemian Karst is, according to the PLA administration, world-famous for its fossil finds [1]. As early as the 19th century the geologist Joachim Barrande was fascinated by local finds of fossilised organisms [1].
Vegetation and fauna
According to the PLA administration, the limestone hills are most often covered with species-rich oak groves, oak-hornbeam woods and forest-steppes [1]. According to the same source, the sun-warmed limestone rock faces and steppes are home to unique species of plants, butterflies and other invertebrates [1]. The PLA administration describes the area as a place with preserved extensive stands of rock steppe, forest-steppe and broadleaf forest communities with rich flora and fauna [2]. For a number of species of plants and invertebrates, the Bohemian Karst is, according to this source, the only place in Bohemia where they occur [2]. The diversity of nature here is strongly influenced by the river and karst phenomenon [2].
Limestone quarrying
According to the PLA administration, limestone has been quarried in the area since time immemorial [1]. The many old, mostly small quarries now have a natural character, whereas the newer large quarries intrude significantly on the landscape [1].
Protection of the area
According to the PLA administration, the Bohemian Karst includes 21 small-scale specially protected areas, of which two are national nature reserves, nine nature reserves, four national nature monuments and six nature monuments [2]. Within the European Natura 2000 network, the area contains nine sites of European importance [2]. According to the PLA administration, the area is unique from the standpoint of world geology, the stratigraphy of the Silurian and Devonian, and research into the development of life in those periods of Earth's history [2].
Visiting and information centres
Near the Koněprusy Caves stands the Bohemian Karst Nature House, a visitor centre located in the area of the Kotýz and Zlatý kůň national nature monuments above the Čertovy schody quarry [1]. The information centre of the Bohemian Karst Protected Landscape Area is located in the village of Svatý Jan pod Skalou [1]. According to the PLA administration, it is open at weekends and, during the summer holidays, also on weekdays except Monday [1].