Broumov
Thirty km east of Trutnov is itself no great attraction. A thoroughly German town before the war, it's stuck in the middle of nowhere and there's no real reason why you should end up here unless you're hiking along the Broumov wall or wish to visit the unusual wooden Selesian church on the Krivnice road out of town. With a car and a passion for Barogue churches, you could happily spend a more profitable morning exploring the local Stenova Valley.
The era of Baroque was the time when the Benedictine abbacy of Brevnov and Broumov was developing successfully in all respects. Having overcome the disastrous effects of the Thirty Years' War, the abbacy, especially under the abbots Tomas Sartorius (1663 - 1700) and Otmar Zinke (1700 - 1738), reached a very good economic status, partly through increasing the extent of corve and partly due to its own intense business activities. This enabled further building of costly monasterial premises, residences and churches. Thus, all the churches were reconstructed in Broumov, especially
the Gothic abbey and also the monastery itself (both destroyed by fire), after the drawings of a master builder, Martin Allia. The terraces and the courtyards of the monastery were reconstructed and rebuilt under the supervision of an outstanding architect, Krystof Dientzenhofer, after whose designs
the new monasterial grammar school and the apothecary's were built. Last but not
least, at that time some of the plans and designs of Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer (the best architect of Baroque in Bohemia) were finally materialized; these trends reached their top form in the radical reconstruction of the Broumov monastery in the years 1728 - 1738.
The Broumov walls
The Broumov walls make up a sandstone ridge that almost cuts Broumov off from the rest of the country. From the west, there is so indication of the approaching precipice, from which a wonderful vista is dearly spread out before you. The best place to appreciate the view is from Duntzentaper's chapel of Panna Maria Snezna situated in among the boulders at the edge of the big drop. The best rock formations are 9 km south of here close to the highest point of the wall Bozanovsky Spicak [733 m] only a few hundred metres from the Polish border.
Monastery church of St. Adalbert
The church dates back to the first half of 14th century, rebuilt in Baroque style by Martin Allio in 1684 - 1694. Rich interior decorations: stuccos by Soldati, fresco by J. J. Steinfels, sculptors M. Jackel and K. Hiernle. The altar paintings in its six lateral chapels made by V. V. Reiner.