I cannot believe that not even two years ago I was unaware of it's existance... I suppose somewhere at the edge of consciousness I knew of a czech settlement in the Jizera Mountains, but it's far, and you can't get there by car etc, another words a vague idea without rear understanding. LoL
From my initial visit in the in the drizzling rain, the creeping fog and a piercing wind, I fell in love with Jizerka at first sight. It was a love born in difficult circumstances, but ever since that first autumn - I return there like a boomerang.

It is however true that the easiest time to fall in love with her is in the spring. When you walk the road from Bukowiec and see the cottages scattered in the valley, the wild meaderings of the Jizerka brook, the expansive waves of meadows filled with plump marsh marigolds and the rare globeflowers, your heart fills with an incredible peace. In Jizerka time flows at it's own pace, as it was before - according to seasons and the days of the week. All you need to do is inhale deeply and take in a bit of that bliss into your soul.


Settlement. Inhabited for 500 years by fowlers, lumberjacks, hunters of precious stones, glassmakers, and thanks to its camouflaged location by various kinds of refugees. Today, most of the buildings fulfill some tourist function, and are open mostly during the tourist season and on weekends. The school building houses a museum, in one of the glassworks - a sports hall. Panský dům, a most stately home of the wealthy glassworks owner now houses a hotel with charming interiors and a very decent restaurant. In its heyday (nineteenth / twentieth century) you could count 42 houses here and 400 permanent residents. The village was home to two glassworks, a sawmill, and inns. After the war, when the German population was displaced, the character of Jizerka began to change. Due to its unique development, architecture and history, Jizerka is a official reserve of rural architecture since 1995.

It is also an ideal place to breathe freely - away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A place to recharge your internal batteries. Where the quiet babbling brook whispers the story of Gnojna Cottage, a stone monument in the middle of the village, and reveals the long - hidden secrets of the sapphire seekers. And above all of it, the majestic mountain, Bukovec - an extinct volcano of basalt slopes reminiscent of the pyramids, keeps watch.



Where?
Izerka (Jizerka), Izerka Mountains, Czech Republic

How?
✔BY CAR - from Poland, passing Szklarska Poręba, Jakuszyce, Harrachov we go to Korenov, where we turn on Bukoviec near the post office (Česká pošta Polubný). Parking costs 50kc
✔WALKING - I think there will be future posts about this ;) but it's easiest to leave Polana Jakuszycka - Tourist Station Orle, and from there choose one of the many roads to Jizerka. The trails are well signed and marked.

When?
All year! Winter on cross country skis, summer - hiking or paddling. Spring and Fall you will have to remember that restaurants, cafes and all attractions are locked up tight - although on nicer weekends you may get luck and find a place to drink Czech beer and eat a delicious dinner.

translated by Eva