Adršpach

Adršpach 

History of settlement 

In the earliest times, the area that is home to Adršpach Rocks was nothing more than a huge virgin forest. The entire region of the border mountains, including the Giant Mountains and the Eagle Mountains, has been known as the Hercynian Forest since Roman times. An old road, undoubtedly dating back to prehistoric times, passed through the border forest, leading from the lowlands along the Elbe through the eastern Bohemian settlement area of Branka near Náchod to the Kladsko Basin, and from there on to the precious amber deposits on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The area around Svatá Hora near Adršpach has yielded a unique find of an arched bowl and a few fragments of pottery from the later La Tène period. 

Prior to the establishment of the Přemyslid state, the whole of eastern Bohemia was ruled by the Slavník dynasty. A charter issued by Henry IV in 1086 still designates the territory as that of the second Charvatians. The consolidation and strengthening of the Přemyslid sovereignty was disrupted by the invasion of Bolesław the Brave into Bohemia in 1003. 

If the landscape was covered by a large forest, which did not begin to be colonised until the 13th century, no interesting rock formations were even visible. The border forest is a concept from the early days of colonisation and formed a natural barrier protecting the Bohemian land. The first historical reports of sandstone rock formations mention Broumovské stěny. Man first encountered this band of rocks, which separates Policko from the Broumov Basin, back in prehistoric times. The aptly named Stěny (Walls) are first mentioned in Břevnov monastery documents from 1213 and 1229. At that time, the Adršpach-Teplice group of rocks was also facing colonisation from two directions at the same time. From the eastern side along the Metuje River and from the west along the Dřevíč Creek (Olšovka). The starting point here was evidently Stárkov. 

At the end of the 13th century, two castles, Střmen and Adršpach, were built at Metuji Teplice and by the rocks, followed later by a third castle, Skály, constructed as solid bastions of defence in this wild landscape.