Stav brings together a Gothic church, a fortified site and a protected stream valley. Its attractions range from sacred architecture and historic memorials to archaeological traces and landscape conservation. To plan your visit, start by choosing a focus: would you like to explore architectural history, learn about the fortifications or discover the natural landscape?
Church of St Peter and Paul: Gothic architecture across several periods
The Church of St Peter and Paul in Stav is a Gothic building dating from the mid-14th century, in the style known as Luxembourg Gothic. Its original rib vault and tracery have been preserved. A rib vault divides the ceiling with its ribs; tracery is geometric ornamental stonework that articulates architectural elements. The two surviving features therefore draw attention to different aspects of the building: the ceiling structure and the design of its details. The church can thus be understood both through its style and through specific surviving architectural features.
The church interior also preserves a stone baptismal font and an epitaph to two daughters of the Lords of Donín. The epitaph dates from the second half of the 16th century, adding a later period alongside the church building from the mid-14th century. The baptismal font is part of the church’s furnishings; the epitaph commemorates the two daughters. These details make it possible to distinguish the building’s history from the later memorial.
Fortified site and archaeological traces
The fortified site in Stav has an oval inner area, surrounded by a circular ditch and an outer rampart. It was probably built entirely of wood as a fortress. The wooden construction remains a probable archaeological interpretation. The archaeological site in Stav is classified as an important archaeological locality. This brings several questions about the town’s history into view: the layout of the fortified site, its possible construction and the significance of the archaeological site.
Old road link and memorial site
An old road runs from Zboží, above Úbislavice, through Stav to the locality of “Na špici”. This sequence of places places Stav on a specifically named route: Zboží is at the beginning, Stav lies along the route and “Na špici” is at the end. This spatial perspective differs from looking at individual buildings or archaeological sites; instead, it follows a route through several places.
At the “U Jána” memorial site, a newly forged cross, a bench, an information board and an avenue of 13 lime trees were formally unveiled on 9 June 2024. The 2024 unveiling provides a more recent point of reference than the medieval church building and the 16th-century epitaph.
The Stav Natural Monument
The Stav Natural Monument protects an epigenetic stream valley with remnants of original beech forest and a herb layer. The shape of the valley and its vegetation offer different aspects of this natural landscape: alongside the stream valley are remnants of beech forest and the herb layer. The herb layer is the near-ground layer of herbaceous plants. Visitors wishing to focus on the landscape rather than architecture will find a distinct alternative here. The emphasis is on the valley’s shape and vegetation, not on the design of a building or memorial site.
Discover more destinations: Ostroměř, Jičín, Sukorady, Jičíněves, Jinolice, Rokytňany, Doubrava, Ohařice
For the broader travel overview: Jičín District.
