Pravčická brána is a rock arch in Bohemian Switzerland in the Ústí nad Labem Region. The national park administration describes it as one of the symbols of Bohemian Switzerland.[1]
Natural form
The operator of the site explains that the sandstone plateaus formed about 90 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous after the retreat of the sea, and that the softness of the rock allowed the Elbe to cut through valleys. The arch spans 26.5 metres, which according to the same source makes it the largest natural stone arch in continental Europe. The gate is a national monument. According to the operator the arch has become more fragile, and tourists are therefore no longer allowed to stand on its top.[2]
Tourist use
According to the Bohemian Switzerland National Park Administration, the gate became a tourist destination no later than the first half of the 19th century. The owners of the Clary-Aldringen estate built up facilities there, and the first tavern appeared in 1827, when the collection of an entrance fee was also introduced. In 1881 they had the Hotel Prebischtor built, today known as Falcon's Nest.[1] The operator of the site states that Prince Edmund Clary-Aldringen hired Italian craftsmen and built a paved road to the gate, forest paths and boat trips into the gorge that bears his name.[2]
In 1831 Carl Gustav Carus included the gate in his Nine Letters on Landscape Painting, and in the same year Hans Christian Andersen visited it for the first time, according to the operator. According to the same source, the gate was used in the 2004 film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.[2]
Ownership and access
The Falcon's Nest restaurant was privatised together with its land in 1992 over the objections of the then administration of the Elbe Sandstones Protected Landscape Area, and it remains in private hands. Bohemian Switzerland National Park was established in 2000.[1] The operator charges an entrance fee for entry and passage over its land during the tourist season, and in winter the site is accessible without a fee on weekends.[1] The only access route runs through the valley to Falcon's Nest, is owned by the park administration and, according to it, is threatened by erosion, so it requires repair. The best view is offered by the viewpoints west of the gate, which are reached by a path across private land, and access to them is therefore also subject to a charge.[1]
With the support of the Ministry of the Environment, the park administration had a study prepared on the revitalisation of the access routes, which proposes repairs in stages, a temporary access, drainage of the slope, and verifies an alternative route to the viewpoints outside private land.[1]
Practical information from the operator
On its website the operator of the site gives opening hours from 28 March to October daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from November to March on Friday and at weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is 125 CZK for adults and 50 CZK for children aged 6 to 14 and for students and seniors over 65. Visitors walk to the gate from Hřensko along the red marked trail, and cars are left at the car park in Hřensko or at Mezní Louka.[2]