Hradiště na Čertovce Hillfort

Welcome to the place where the deep past meets the present calm of the countryside. You are standing at the castle on Certovka, one of those places that helps us understand how people lived, built and defended in times that we can hardly imagine today. Look around you and feel the atmosphere of this place. You see those steep slopes that slide down to the Vransky creek valley? This natural protection was crucial for the ancient people. The sandstone sharpness on which you are currently located provided not only a solid foundation, but above all a view and safety. Feel the wind and the silence that prevails here, and imagine what this place looked like thousands of years ago when it was the center of the universe for the people back then.

Now let's go deeper into time. This location is not just an ordinary hill, it's a witness to an incredibly long history. The first people who left their footprints here appeared at the age of eneolithic, the era when mankind began to learn to work with the first pieces of copper. They were members of the Roman culture. Imagine their lives, their efforts to settle in this very high place. But their story didn't end here. The fort remained important much later when the older Bronze Age came. At that time, there were people from an utenistic culture. This tells us that this place has had its strategic value for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. It was not just a random place, but a selected point that offered protection and control over the surrounding territory.

Now pay attention to what you can see right under your feet or in the surrounding terrain. Even if you no longer find tall wooden walls or solid gates that you might touch, archaeological traces are still present here and speak to us through the shapes of the earth. When you look at the surrounding slope and shape of the terrain, you can realize how this fortress was built. Archaeologists discovered that the defense was made up of a deep moat and a palisade, a series of wooden stakes impaled into the ground, which was supplemented by a gateway for entry. But what is truly fascinating about this place is that this fortification was not built only once. The records of the construction stages show that people here worked to strengthen their walls at least in two different periods. Each phase means new efforts, new wood, new human hands and a growing need for security.

When you look at these tracks, you might think of a way to take care of this place in modern times. The story of this place as a scientific resource began to become obvious to us in 1950. That is when Karel Žebera, the man who discovered this place, came here and began the first archaeological surveys. Thanks to his work and the work of other researchers, we are now able to know what happened here. Without his attention, these traces could remain forever hidden beneath the layers of the earth, and we would never know the meaning of a roaring or uponics culture in this particular place. It is thanks to these surveys that the fort has become part of our national heritage.

There's also one interesting thing that might interest you. This site is not just an ordinary site, it is a protected cultural monument. Since 1987, this place has been protected, which means that every clay and every finding here has its weight and must be preserved for future generations. It's like a book that's still open, but we have to treat it with respect so we don't tear it apart. This protection allows us to perceive the castle in Certovka as a whole, as a combination of nature and human effort that resisted the trials of time.

Now, I'd like to invite you to continue your walk and explore this area. Try to perceive every detail of the terrain, every steep slope and every change in the landscape that could indicate human activity. Let yourself be carried away by imagination and try to hear the echoes of ancient life in silence. Thank you for coming to learn more about our roots. We wish you a beautiful journey and another pleasant discovery of history. To a reunion.