Ždánice: Cultural Monuments and Landscape

Ždánice can be explored through several clearly distinct themes: cultural monuments with specific locations, a prominent spur of land, and a section of a family-oriented themed trail. When planning your stay, it helps to distinguish between the landmarks with fixed locations and the broader trail themes. This lets you choose the focus of your trip according to whether you want to explore historic buildings, landforms, or an interactive themed trail.

Cultural Monuments and Their Locations

Panák is the local name for the hill with the monument above the municipality of Ždánice. The Hradiště Na Hradišťatech is listed as a cultural monument under ÚSKP number 33563/2-909. Na Hradišťatech lies on a prominent spur of land between Oleška and Ždánice. Two details help you find your bearings here: Panák is the local name for the hill, while the spur describes its location between the two places. Its listing as a cultural monument adds a cultural context to this geographical orientation.

The Kostel sv. Havla stands west of Ždánice, in the elevated area known as “Na Poušti,” and is listed in the Central Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic under number 17915/2–888. The Kaplička Panny Marie lies at the northwestern edge of the settlement, at a crossroads below the Kostel sv. Havla. It is a niche chapel dating from the mid-18th century and is marked on maps from the First Military Survey of 1764–1767. The chapel thus combines a specific location within the settlement with a historical map reference; for the church, its western direction, elevated location, and register listing are the main details that help place it in context.

Landscape, Pilgrimage Tradition, and Themed Trail

Čertova brázda is a clearly recognizable, 21-kilometre-long system of depressions, ditches, and sunken lanes between Sázava and Chotouň. It connects the birthplace of Saint Procopius with Sázavský klášter; in the Baroque period, it served as a pilgrimage route between the monastery and Chotouň. A legend about Saint Procopius is also associated with it. The landform, historical use, and legend offer three different ways to explore it: you can view the route as a distinctive landscape feature, consider it as a former pilgrimage route, or focus on its connection with the story of Procopius.

A different kind of highlight is the section of the Středočeská ovocná stezka near Ždánice. The description published in September 2025 lists five stops with interactive information boards; the section is aimed at children, families, and schools. The stops give the themed trail a different focus from the individual buildings or the historic pilgrimage route. As route information can change, check the tour details before your visit.

The dates also offer different historical perspectives. The Kaplička Panny Marie is marked on maps from the First Military Survey of 1764–1767; for Čertova brázda, the focus is on its use as a pilgrimage route in the Baroque period. In the first case, the map places a building within a historical depiction; in the second, the date refers to an earlier function of the route. The questions prompted by these two themes therefore differ too: one concerns the cartographic record of a building, the other the historical use of a route.

Discover more destinations: Klučov, Kbel, Horní Kruty, Vitice, Pečky, Žiželice, Ratenice, Kšely.

For the broader travel overview: Okres Kolín.