Czantoria Wielka

The Čantoryje massif

Velka Čantoryje (Polish Czantoria Wielka German Czantory earlier ) is the highest peak in the Czech part of the Silesian Beskids. The mountain rises about 10 kilometers east of the city Třinec from the Jablunkov furrow ( Jablunkovská Brázda ) that separates the mountains of the Moravian- Silesian Beskids. The crest of the Čantoryje forms the border between the Czech Republic and Poland. Over the crest of this mighty mountain range runs the watershed of the rivers Oder and Vistula. The Massif of Čantoryje has two peaks; Malá Čantoryje ( Small Czantory, 865 m) and Velka Čantoryje (Grand Czantory, 995 m ), the Small Czantory is already in Poland.

Geology

The mountain consists of flysch sediments that have formed in the Upper Cretaceous. In them outweigh coarse, glaukonitische sandstones. On the rock humic podzols soils are formed. The terrain is rocky, rocky and covered with gravel so that the forests can be used for forestry hardly.

Flora and Fauna

The massif is covered by mixed forests and book of spruce monocultures. In the ridge areas mountain meadows are found.

In the deciduous forest zone, about 2.5 kilometers east of the summit, in 1988, proclaimed on 40 acres of the National Nature Reserve Čantoria. The approximately 150-220 years old forest stand has jungle character. In addition to beech, fir, larch and sycamore here is also a remainder of the original domestic European yew. The herbaceous layer is dominated by ferns, isolated, there are the little snowdrop, the Turk's cap and the Willow Gentian. The reserve is home to a large population of the rare Blauschnegel. Native are also the fire salamander, forest lizards and adders. Typical small mammals are the Alpine shrew, the birch mouse, the tree sleeper and the Dormouse.

History

The Czantory belonged since the Middle Ages the Duchy of Teschen, which fell in 1653 as a completed fief to the crown of Bohemia, which was ruled by the Habsburgs since 1526. After the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy was in 1918 on the crest of the boundary between Poland and Czechoslovakia. The mountain was one of the to 1955 claimed by both countries Olsagebiet.

Tourism

Velka Čantoryje is one of the most visited peaks of Beskydy. Tourists control built in 1904 Bergbaude or the new, 29 -meter high observation tower directly to the summit. The tower was built in 2002 and can accommodate up to 170 visitors. On a clear day you can see from here the Moravian- Silesian and Silesian Beskid Mountains, the Lesser Fatra and Tatra. Starting point of tourist routes to the summit is the Nýdek. The road from the mountain village Nýdek to the summit is 5 km long. From the Polish Ustroń a chairlift runs up to just below the summit of Čantoryje, which is accompanied by a bobsled track.

Trail

The nature trail " Rytířská stezka " ( Knight Path) is a 10.5 km long hiking trail through the Čantoryje that begins and ends in Nýdek. At seven locations, visitors are introduced to the colonization of the Beskids, the local fauna and flora, and also with the local legend, after the inside of the mountain sleeps a knight army, which awakens in danger of war and the population comes to the rescue.