Several distinct cultural themes come together in Bělá pod Bezdězem: castle history, a historic town gate, sacred art, an interactive exhibition and a dendrological garden. You can choose your focus depending on whether you are interested in building phases and the town’s former functions, works of art and church interiors, or an exhibition that invites you to take part. The range of themes thus extends from buildings and religious art to living woody plants.
Castle and Town Gate
Bělá Castle was built between 1582 and 1615 on the site of an earlier castle or fortress. The castle houses the Muzeum Podbezdězí, a branch of the Muzeum Mladoboleslavska. The castle also has an information centre with exhibitions and a castle tour. The building’s history, its connection to the museum and the activities offered there provide different points of interest within the same structure. You can consider the castle’s origins and its exhibitions as connected but distinct topics.
Česká brána is one of the original gates that served as an entrance to Bělá pod Bezdězem. Here, the gate’s former function takes centre stage. Česká brána was extensively restored in 2004; its interior, now open to visitors, houses a gallery. The building’s significance therefore spans its former function and its current use as a gallery space.
Church Art and Architecture
At the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, a work of art and an architectural detail sit side by side: the church has a 14th-century Pietà carving and preserves a sacristy in its original Gothic style, with a cross vault. The Pietà offers a clearly dated link to sculpture; the sacristy and vault draw attention to the architecture. This distinction is useful for anyone who views individual works of art differently from preserved church interiors.
Another sacred site is the complex comprising the Augustinian monastery and the Church of Saint Wenceslas. It dates back to the founding of a monastery in 1345 by Hynek Berka of Dubá for members of the Augustinian order. The founding of the monastery can be compared chronologically with the construction of the castle between 1582 and 1615: the monastery’s history reaches back to an earlier period, while the castle was built later. The town’s history thus offers two clearly distinct points in time that can be compared while exploring the themes.
Exhibition and Living Woody Plants
The exhibition on the Bělá manufactory offers another way to explore cultural history. Visitors can try out the role of an apprentice at the institution using spinning wheels, a loom and a printing press. The exhibition links these tools to a specific role, distinguishing it from the buildings and works of art, where history is conveyed primarily through architecture, interiors or carving.
The Bělá arboretum also has its own distinct focus. It is a collection of living woody plants in the form of a dendrological garden. This extends the range beyond castle, church and exhibition themes: the woody plants themselves are the focus at the arboretum. For choosing what interests you, this is different from the history of buildings or the design of a sacred space.
A Route Between Two Places
Route 3045 runs from Bělá pod Bezdězem to Jablonné v Podještědí. It describes a route between two places and is distinct from the individual cultural themes within the town. For planning purposes, this broader route can be considered separately from the castle, churches, exhibition and arboretum, without treating it as equivalent to any of the local visitor attractions.
Discover more destinations: Chudíř, Dlouhá Lhota, Semčice, Malé Horky, Benátky nad Jizerou, Kovanec, Lipník, Smilovice.
View the wider travel guide: Mladá Boleslav District.
