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History of
Adršpach-Teplice rocks
Andšpach and surroundings were for ages known for their mysterious
stories full of pixies, robbers and witchcrafts…
Metuje
River Metuje had conjured there for ages and changed the rocks and
produced their beauty. Very nice is also the story, how the river was
named. The oldest ones even tell the story today. The river could thank Benedictine
monks who settled down in this region, for its name. Metuje
river was the greatest and most mysterious river in the region. In those
times it did not bear any name and nobody knew, where is its spring. So
monks, equipped with food for several days went against the river
current. Everywhere there was a dense forest, so they proceeded very
slowly, but one day they came to a place, where the spring should be
located. Finally, it was found. However, they could not found any
appropriate name for the river. On their way back the decision was made.
When men were relaxing, some other monks went to reckon the terrain when
they found a cluster of bees. They lived in a maple and had so much
honey that it poured over the trunk. That man, surprised by the
foundation cried out „Med tu je! Med tu je! (Honey is there, Honey is
there!). The cries echoed through the forest and the name for the river
was born. „Med tu je“ was changed to Metuje and it remained so for
ever.
Water kingdom
The interesting thing is, that even today people argue where exactly
Metuja´s spring is. The most popular version claims that it springs in
Wolf´s gill. Water, especially the underground water makes the real
wealth of the Adršpach stone town. For years it flows in the depth of
some hundred meters through cubical sandstones of approximate area
100km2. It is one of the best underground waters in the Central Europe.
From the underground it flows thanks to the air pressure to the surface,
where it forms huge artesian springs. The water supply is so strong,
that it supplies not only the whole region, but it is sold as a
well-known table water in the whole Czech republic.
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Stony towns
Even today people name Teplice and Adršpach stone labyrinths as a stony
towns. One old fable says, that in the past there were two real towns on
the places of the stony labyrinths. They were of a big strategic
importance, because all the region was covered by forests and rocks and
only through those towns an enemy could penetrate to the kingdom. And as
a fable claims, even our ancestors were able to change their minds for
some rewards and they left the enemy to enter the rich country. The
enemy robbed and caused a great harm. One god got angry from this behavior
and ordered two towns to petrify. As soon as he told his
curse, houses, churches, people and animals changed to the stone.
Memoirs from the press:
Adventures from Adršpach - Wanderer
1846
„Then a guide opened small doors and we continued on the sandy
footpath. He showed various rocks and named them: rock of an echo,
Capuchin, a glove, a mayor, an ashbin, a scaffold, Vratislaw Magdalena
church, a rostrum, a pyramid, a mushroom, a ruin, a halved stone, a dog
and many others. All those names are connected with the way the rocks
look like. One rock was named by our guide as Emperor Leopold. I asked,
which Leopold he thought about, Leopold I or Leopold II, and he
replied „Velchen Se vullen.“ (The one you choose). Finally we got to
the green meadow and our eyes were charmed, but then we passed through
some black cave to the waterfall, where a nice drama awaited us. We
stood to the banister and then a water with tremendous noise started to
fall from the height – that is the most beautiful waterfall we have
ever seen.“
Adventures from Adršpach -
From 1881
„It is not advisable to go to the rocks without a guide… a stranger
does not know the path and even the names of the objects thus he does
not know what to observe. Soon we get to the sugar loaf, interesting
object of Adršpach rocks. It is a great sandstone object, on its upper
side two and a half meters wide, on its lower side half meter wide and
nine and a half metres high… it looks like it is a great sugar loaf
turned upside down. The tip submerges to the mud and a water flows round
it. We do not feel fine standing near to it because we expect the stone
to collapse in any moment … However, it haven't happened yet but we
do not say that it is safe a that it would not happen in a few years.
Narrow support of the stone still submerges to the mud and is surrounded
by water… and sandstone is not so tough… it is sure that once the
stone will collapse.“
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