Říp Mountain

Říp mountain (Audio|Cs-Rip hora Rip.ogg|"hora Říp" in Czech) is a 459 m solitary hill rising up from the central Bohemian flatland where, according to legend, the first Czechs settled. Říp is located 25 km south-east of Litoměřice, Czech Republic.

Geologically, Říp is the remnant of a tertiary volcano and is composed of basalt nephelites containing olivine granules, amphibole, leucite and — among others — magnetite (a local magnetic anomaly can even be observed on the hill). The hill was bare until 1879 when Mořic Lobkowitz had it planted with trees. Today, almost all of the mountain is covered by an oak-and-hornbeam forest with some maple, pine ash and linden trees. Some rare thermophile plants can be found at the few tree-less places on the top of the hill, such as "Gagea bohemica" and "Iris pumila".

Říp, being visible from great distance, has always been an important orientation point in the Bohemian scenery and has attracted attention since the oldest times. The name of the mountain is of pre-Slavic origin and probably comes from the Germanic stem *"rīp-" which means "an elevation, a hill" [cite book|first=Antonín|last=Profous|year=1951|title=Místní jména v Čechách: Jejich vznik, původní význam a změny, díl 3. M-Ř|publisher=Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences|location=Prague, Czechoslovakia] .

Legend

According to a traditional legend, first recorded by the ancient Czech chronicler Cosmas of Prague in the early 12th century, Říp was the place where the first Slavs, led by Praotec Čech (Forefather Bohemus), settled. The land was named after the leader. In the 16th century the legend was revived by Václav Hájek of Libočany who claimed that Bohemus was buried in the nearby village of Ctiněves and, later on, by Alois Jirásek in his "Old Bohemian Legends" from 1894.

Buildings

On top of the hill there is a romanesque rotunda of Saint George built by Soběslav I in 1126 to commemorate his victorious battle of Chlumec where he defeated Lothair II. The top of Říp became a popular pilgrimage place and a frequent site of national manifestations and mass meetings. A famous manifestation was held there on May 10, 1868 when the foundation stone was taken from the hill for the newly built National Theatre in Prague. The present appearance of the rotunda is the result of a purist reconstruction from the 1870s.

Near the rotunda there is a tourist hut that was built in 1907 that still serves travellers today. In accordance with the patriotic spirit of the time, a wooden plate is mounted on the hut wall that says "What Mecca is to a Mohammedan, Říp should be to a Czech!" (Czech: "Co Mohammedu Mekka, to Čechu má být Říp!"). Inside the rotunda, there is a stone sculpture by the famous contemporary Czech artist Stanislav Hanzík (1979) The Good Shepherd that symbolizes the arrival of Czech ancestors to the country and the beginning of the Czech history there.

References

External links

* [http://www.podripsko.cz/ Microregion Podřipsko] (cz)