Places from Czech books and comics: The Leaning Church, Čtyřlístek, May, Vondruška and Psohlavci
Where the lost town of The Leaning Church stood, which castle is Bezzub from the Čtyřlístek comic, the true crime behind Mácha’s May and where Oldřich of Chlum investigates – plus a trip to Bezděz, where three stories meet.
Places from stories · a guide to places from Czech books and comics
Some books send their readers on a trip. People now travel to Karviná-Doly because of Karin Lednická’s trilogy, to Bezděz Castle for Oldřich of Chlum from Vlastimil Vondruška’s medieval mysteries, and to Doksy for the town of Třeskoprsky from the Čtyřlístek comic. This guide links our detailed pages on each book and suggests how to combine them into a trip.
We do not retell the plots or make anything up: we rely on publishers’ blurbs, authors’ statements and historical sources, always separating what is in the book from documented history.
The Leaning Church and lost Karvinná
Karin Lednická’s trilogy Šikmý kostel (The Leaning Church, 2020–2024) is a “novel chronicle of a lost town” – old Karvinná between 1894 and 1961. A town of over 20,000 people in 1930 vanished because of coal mining. What remains is mainly the Church of St Peter of Alcantara, which sank about 37 metres and tilts 6.8°.
Nearby stood the Neo-Renaissance St Henry’s Church for 4,000 worshippers, demolished in 1960. Our page The Leaning Church in real life shows the places from the trilogy, what survives and what has gone. The first volume was published in Polish in 2025 as Krzywy kościół.
Mácha Country: Čtyřlístek and the poem May
The author of the Čtyřlístek comic, Jaroslav Němeček, said it himself: “Go round that corner and you’ll see Bezděz, that is Bezzub, and next to it Mácha Lake, the Blaťák. Doksy is Třeskoprsky.” Doksy now has a Čtyřlístek Museum and a comic-themed trail around the lake.
Karel Hynek Mácha chose the same landscape for May (1836), the best-known poem of Czech Romanticism, set near Hirschberg, today’s Doksy, “among hills crowned by the castles of Bezděz, Perštejn…”. It is most likely based on a real murder in Dubá in 1774. Details on our page Mácha Country in real life.
Vondruška’s medieval mysteries
Vlastimil Vondruška’s detective novels are set in the reign of Ottokar II. Royal prosecutor Oldřich of Chlum, steward of Bezděz Castle, investigates across the kingdom, and many volumes are set at castles that still stand – such as Křivoklát or Zlatá Koruna Monastery. All nine places are on Vondruška’s medieval mysteries: the real castles.
Psohlavci: the Chod region
Jirásek’s novel Psohlavci (1884) made the Chod uprising against Wolf Maximilian Lamingen – “Lomikar” – famous. His Baroque château at Trhanov (1676–1677) still stands. The Chod leader Jan Sladký Kozina was hanged in Plzeň on 28 November 1695, and Lamingen died less than a year later – hence the legend of God’s judgement “within a year and a day”. More on Psohlavci in real life.
A trip: three stories, one castle
Bezděz is the one place where all three meet. Ottokar II founded the castle in the 1260s, and in 1279 the young Wenceslas II was held captive here. Doksy is about 6 km away – the castle in the morning, Mácha Lake (the Great Pond founded by Charles IV in 1366), the Čtyřlístek Museum and the Mácha Memorial in the afternoon. With more time, add Houska Castle. Castles and museums are seasonal.
More places from stories
Film locations: a guide to Czech film locations. Games: Kingdom Come and DayZ in real life. Everything: Places from stories.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Leaning Church from Karin Lednická’s trilogy?
In Karviná-Doly: the Church of St Peter of Alcantara, which sank about 37 metres due to mining and tilts 6.8°.
What is Třeskoprsky from Čtyřlístek based on?
On Doksy. The author Jaroslav Němeček said Bezzub is Bezděz, Blaťák is Mácha Lake and Třeskoprsky is Doksy.
Sources for each book are on the linked pages. Photos from Wikimedia Commons.