The Pravčice stone arch is truly part of ancient history.  Around 90 million years ago, in the late Cretaceous period, the sea began to retreat, leaving behind vast plateaus of sandstone from the ocean floor.

The softness of the rock meant that the River Elbe could easily slice through sections, leaving behind incredible rock formations.

With a span of 26.5 metres, Pravčice Gate is the largest natural stone arch in mainland Europe. Today, it is listed as a Czech national monument, and has become an icon of the entire ‘Bohemian Switzerland’

In 1881, the Austrian prince Edmund Clary-Aldringen decided to create one of Europe’s very first tourist destinations on his estate next to the Pravčice Gate.

He hired Italian craftsmen to build an extensive summerhouse called the Falkennest (Falcon’s Nest), whose famous restaurant is still attracting tourists 150 years later!

The entrepreneurial Edmund built a paved path to the Pravcice Gate, and introduced woodland hiking trails as well as boat trips in the nearby ravine that now bears his name: ‘Edmund Gorge’.

We take great pride in our natural heritage, but the powerful forces that created the Pravčice Gate are still at work today. We cannot stop nature trying to reclaim what belongs to her. The stone arch itself has become more fragile over time, which is why tourists are no longer allowed to stand on top of it.

And the surrounding woodland is always at risk from fire, most recently in the autumn of 2022. That’s why we fight to preserve the area surrounding the Pravčice Gate and the Falcon’s Nest.

In recent years, we have re-invested a significant amount from ticket sales to maintain and improve the estate and the surrounding trails.

The region was a favourite of Romantic artists and writers. In 1831, Carl Gustav Carus included the Pravčice Gate in his Nine Letters on Landscape Painting. He describes a dramatic landscape filled with “narrow ravines, isolated rectangular masses, and gaps cut through the rocks.”

In the same year, the 26-year-old Hans Christian Andersen visited Pravčice Gate for the first time. The landscape may have inspired him to write some of his most fantastic fairy-tales for children.

In 2004, the director of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe followed in Andersen’s footsteps by using the Pravčicka arch as part of the set for the first Narnia film.