Culture
CULTURAL HERITAGE
The Kokořín region – a picturesque landscape with many different sandstone rocks. Natural rock formations often render bizarre scenes. Obří hlava (the Giant’s Head) and Žába (the Frog), Pokličky (Lids), Husa (the Goose), Čertovy hlavy (Devil’s Heads), Harfenice (the Harp Player), Klácelka, Sedm chlebů (Seven Loaves) and Had (the Serpent) are the most typical examples. Houska Castle but mainly Kokořín Castle, dominating an entire complex of rocks and valleys, are the most prominent landmarks of Mácha’s region. The unobtrusive chateaus of Kokořín, Liběchov, Lobeč and the less well-known Slavín in the village of Tupadly are situated in small villages, which also feature churches consecrated to St. Giles, St. Wenceslaus, St. Martin and St. James.
Natural cavities were often artificially expanded, which resulted in the creation of rock dwellings and caves – Klemperka and Staráky. Mythical mysteries are linked to the already abandoned rock mills of Štampach, Mlčeň and Krvomlýn Harasov.
www.kokorin.cz/cile_skalni.htm
GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS
Raw dampness has soaked the walls, settled in poorly ventilated rooms and a patina has stained the writing equipment on the deserted desk. The adjoining rooms conceal furniture spun around with spiders’ webs. Do not forget to visit the collections of Asian cultures in Liběchov, fragments from the life of local inhabitants in Mšeno, the exhibition of historical prams and wine making in the Regional Museum in Mělník or the Masaryk House of Culture and its programme. One of the Czech Republic's largest ossuaries, situated under the presbytery of St. Peter and St. Paul's provost church in Mělník, is a real treat.
Last but not least, we must recommend the newly opened Truhlárna gallery, which offers many different events for children and adults alike.
ART
Concentrate on your own creation, sit in front of an unfinished painting and try spectral colour compositions. There is room for creation everywhere; all you need is a quiet nook where no one will disturb you and your ideas can flourish. Musical or fine art specialisations are taught at basic artistic schools in Mšeno and Mělník.
However, the arts cannot be confined to art school classrooms; they are alive in the artists themselves, who have made this piece of land so beautiful and well-known. Karel Hynek Mácha drew inspiration for his work from the castles of Bezděz, Houska and Kokořín. Towards the village of Želízy, one can admire the impressive and aged images of Čertovy hlavy (Devil’s Heads), Klácelka, Had (the Serpent) and Harfenice (the Harp Player) hewn in the living rock in the forest by Václav Levý, an influential local and national sculptor.
In late 1974 Houska Castle was the location of the oldest studio recording by the Plastic People of the Universe, thanks to Svatopluk Karásek, who was the then warden of the castle. The Kokořín region would never have been immortalised, but for the contribution by Adolf Körber, a painter,
portraitist and landscapist, who lived in Jestřebice. Hradsko is where The Storm Stopped, a novel
by Eduard Štorch, is set. August Sedláček – a historiographer – contributed to the building of the
new palace of Kokořín Castle. Jára 
Cimrman was one of the most illustrious of Czech playwrights, poets, musicians, teachers, travellers and philosophers of his time.
The Mšeno amateur theatre, which staged its first plays as early as 1804, boasts a long-standing tradition. Mělník is the home of the Novanta theatre; the Masaryk House of Culture troupe is no less popular.
www.kokorin.cz/cile_skalni.htm
www.ceskem.cz/ceskolipsko/houska.html
www.novanta.cz/divadlo.htm
www.melnik.cz/kultura-skolstvi-pamatky/kulturaa/…
MYTHS AND LEGENDS
Each Czech castle, chateau or town is linked with legends. Myths, legends and folk tales have a peculiar magic. They occupy an area between two worlds: imagination and reality. They enliven history with poetry, humour and hope comprehensible to all who listen, no matter whether or not they believe the stories. The legend of the Petrovskýs is a perfect example.
www.kokorin-kokorinsko.cz/povesti.php
OLD TIMERS
The oldest wooden cottage has an inscription burnt in the gable saying 1791. Mrs. Glaserová’s entire life was tied to it. Owing to this, many still claim to have encountered an old, snowy-haired rustic woman imbued with the quiet wisdom of her age. Down, at the dim bottom of a cave in the very heart of the rock, was the home of Klempera the bandit, the terror of the entire region. Josef Škuba earned his true and undoubtedly original nickname of Grobián (Lout), a nickname still proudly carried today by the Grobián Pub.
