Almond trail to the lookout tower
Dear visitors, we offer you a journey along a trail, which will lead you
to the new lookout tower and to two almond orchards - the only ones in the
Czech Republic. You can also see many other beautiful places along the way.
The trail is less than 9 km long; you can
also use a shortened route, which is about 5 km long. However, the shorter route
only includes the orchard with the lookout tower on the Hustopečský starý vrch hill.
You can relax in the gazebo next to the Front Pond (Přední rybník) and then at three
outdoor seating areas along the way. You can learn about the almond trees, about
the surrounding nature and landscape and its use on seven information boards. The Almond Trail is only intended for
pedestrians and cyclists. Driving motor vehicles is prohibited, so leave them
at one of the car parks. If you begin your trip next to the Pavučina Youth
Centre, the first part of the trail is parallel to the red tourist trail next
to the Czech Tourists Club (marked with red tourist signs). The Almond Trail then
turns off the red tourist trail next to the Kamenný Vrch (Stone Hill) nature
reserve. From then on, it is marked with yellow arrows with a symbol of a
lookout tower. If you want to go along the shorter route, you must turn off the
red trail next to the Přední rybník (Front Pond) onto the trail marked with
yellow arrows. Nevertheless, you can also go along the trail in the opposite
direction from the local cemetery (located next to the road to Kurdějov). The Lookout Tower stands on the edge of
the almond orchard on Hustopečský starý vrch at an altitude of about 300 m. Its
overall height is 17.4 m, while the viewing platform is at a height of 12.6
meters. It was designed by Ing. Antonín Olšina and Ing. Martin Novák. It was
built by the company TEPLOTECHNA Ostrava a.s. The main supporting columns are
made of larch wood, flooring from oak and other wooden parts are of spruce. It
was opened on March 31, 2012.
Almond
orchards
The history of the cultivation of almond trees in the
Czech lands dates back to the 17th century. However, the first really
large orchards were planted in Hustopeče in 1949 in the pursuit of
self-sufficiency of the socialist economy. About 50,000 almond trees grew on
185 hectares in Hustopeče in the peak times of the 1960s. Nevertheless,
cultivation of almonds became uneconomic and thus the orchards were gradually reduced,
until only two of them remained in the late eighties. After the changed social
and economic conditions after 1989, there was no interest in the harvest from these
orchards, so they remained totally neglected and unkempt. Many years without
maintenance and pruning of the trees led to a dense concentration of branches
in the treetops, their drying and frequent fracturing. Unwanted types of trees
began to grow in the orchards, including the invasive locust tree. The town of Hustopeče
acquired part of the orchards during the adjustment of land ownership in 2004
and the town also bought another significant part of the orchards in 2008. The
ownership of the orchards created conditions for ensuring continued systematic
care. The trees were pruned in 2007 - 2009, invasive trees were removed and two
information boards were installed. The orchard near Kamenec has a total of 1.7
hectares and about 400 trees grow in it. The second orchard on the hill
Hustopečský starý vrch includes approximately 530 almond trees over an area of
about 2.7 ha.
Brochure with map for download.
Nature
The orchards are planted in exceptionally well-preserved
and protected surroundings, which is another reason why these places are worth
visiting. They are literally surrounded by sites, which are among the best in
the Czech Republic and the European Union. This is why they were included in
the European Natura 2000 network, which protects the most vulnerable habitats
and plant and animal species in the European Union. Kamenný Vrch u Kurdějova,
an important European natural locality, is adjacent to the orchard in Kamenec
from both the south and the north. It protects the habitat of steppe grasslands,
small areas of oak-hornbeam forests and the orchid Viper's bugloss (echium
maculatum). You can find other rare species here, for example greater pasque
flower, snowdrop anemone, pheasant's eye and military orchid. Přední kopaniny,
another significant European natural locality, is adjacent to the orchard on the
Hustopečský starý vrch hill and it was included in Natura 2000 in order to
protect rare steppe grasslands. A lot of rare
plants grow there, such as branched St Bernard's lily, fragrant orchid, fringed
gentian (Gentianopsis ciliate), Inula ensifolia and many others.
