Jičín - a town worth visiting!
Jičín - Every little child in the Czech Republic knows this town thanks to bed time fairy tales and the town is very proud of that. Surrounded by beautiful forests and situated at the edge of an area called Bohemian Paradise it has to be the perfect place for MTBO fairytales that are surely going to happen there in August 2023, right?
The gorgeous town we are talking about is called Jičín and is situated 90 km northeast of Prague and it certainly isn't an area new to orienteering. Many orienteers from all over the world love forests around Jičín and come back now and then for trainings, camps and races, not to mention that some world champions and medalists in orienteering, both junior and senior, were born here. Finally, diversity of terrain from flat lands to the Czech highest mountains Krkonoše promises some fun biking too.
OK, what’s with all that fairy tales? In the years 1967 and 1968 the first series of short bed time stories about a bandit Rumcajs living in a forest nearby Jičín was broadcasted. It ended with 39 beautiful drawn episodes and a lot of books for children on top. Since then every child in Czechia saw those stories on TV before they went to bed. And traces of the kind-hearted bandit are there to be discovered all around Jičín.
However not only fairy tales happened in the town. It has its own long and rich history too. Picturesque Valenstein square, his palace and many more historical buildings and sites are worth a tour after embargoed area in the city center opens. Also all the journeys to every stage are going to be lined with places worth to visit after the competition. We are going to introduce you some of them in the upcoming articles.
Bohemian Paradise has its borders right outside the town. It was the first Protected Landscape Area in the Czech Republic and its known for sandstone rocks towns, pine forests, beautiful view points, castles and many more gorgeous places. Among orienteers it is popular for control points in rock passages, caves, on rock towers and between other rocky features in beautiful forests.
Now go train hard so Jičín can became your fairy tale next year, too.