The Betlém Rock Sculptures near Kuks

My long time Czech friend Radim recently moved from Brno to a town near Nachod near the Polish border, and upon visiting him from Wroclaw, Poland, I mentioned to him that I'm interested in visiting the TWHS of the Betlém Rock Sculptures.

So, on one Sunday afternoon in late August, we (Radim, his wife, a daughter, a baby son and me) drove from the Kudowa train station in Poland, where he picked me up, to the TWHS near Kuks.

Betlém means Bethlehem, and in the early 18th century the prominent Earl in this area Franz Anton Sporcka decided to create "a unique complex of religious scenes featuring old hermits and episodes from the life of Christ" with the help of a sculptor Matthias Bernhard Braun who was born in Austria but worked in Bohemia. 

There is a parking lot at the place, and we were able to easily walk from there following the path to view the sculptures. We only walked for about 500 m to what seemed to be the main set of sculptures, "Braun's Nativity Scene." (The photo) Along the 500 m path we also saw two more sets of sculptures.

The photo shows from left the scenes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Nativity and the Revelation of St. Hubertus.

You could walk passed "Braun's Nativity Scene" all the way to the historic Hospital in Kuks to view more sculptures. In fact the best way to do is to walk from …

What we can find now in the so-called New Forest are only small fragments of large Baroque program around the Hospital Kuks, the spa complex, founded by Count von Sporck in 18th Century. Unfortunately, the central scene of Bethlehem was seriously damaged. The sculptures and relieves were carved on/from the high-quality sandstone rocks in situ by one of the best baroque sculptors active in the Czech lands: Matthias Bernhard Braun, Austrian artist hired by Bohemian nobility. Originally, the sandstone statues were completed by wooden ones, carved in the trees, and all of them brightly painted. The statues were intended for contemplation, reflection, but also entertainment of the spa guests. The workshop of Braun was rather active, and we can find his works also in Prague on the Charles bridge, such as the famous Dream of Saint Lutgardis. 

I visited the site on sunny September Sunday 2021 by local train from Jaroměř (every 2 hours). As I spent too much time in the fortress Josefov, I had only 40 minutes to go around 1 km uphills from the train stop Žireč, admire the sculptures, and return to the train stop for the very last local train with transfer to the fast train in direction Prague. Thus, I missed the exploration of the Hospital Kuks, which is located some 2-3 km from the sculptures, and which is also decorated by rich statue program by Braun. However, I have been to the Hospital already several times. I can say that even half …

September 2014 - on our return from Croatia through Czechia, we came near by the rocks of Betlehem, so decided to make this small Detroit. It was already getting dark when we finally arrived at the parking lot. We walked the few meters and the stone sculptures became very spooky. The sculptures are in bad shape but the Ensemble is very fascinating. Despite the spooky atmosphere we decided to stay overnight in our Camper