Donawitz

Donawitz can be explored through two distinct themes: a local cycling route that passes through the town, and a built heritage comprising a chapel, a church and half-timbered farmsteads. The landscape setting adds to these themes: Donawitz lies on a gently northeast-facing slope in the watershed area between the Teplá and Lomnický potok rivers. If you are looking for a hotel in Donawitz, you can decide whether cycling or building history should be the focus of your stay. Travel planning should also take account of the permanent pedestrian closures at the waterworks.

Cycling Route through Donawitz

The local cycling route runs for 22 kilometres between Karlovy Vary and Chodov u Bečova, passing through Donawitz. It follows roads with little traffic and, in places, traffic-free forest paths. The route length and type of paths therefore provide specific points of reference for your planning. Donawitz is a through-route town, not one of the two endpoints. If you include the route in your stay, check current route conditions before setting off and factor the 22 kilometres into your daily plans.

Landscape and Waterworks

Donawitz lies on a gently northeast-facing slope in the watershed area between the Teplá and Lomnický potok rivers. The main purpose of the Stanovice waterworks is to store water for the drinking water supply of the Karlovarsko region. The dam at the waterworks, as well as nearby roads and areas, are permanently closed to pedestrians; public access to the first-degree protection zone is prohibited. If you are planning to walk, do not include these sections as either a destination or a through route. This allows you to take the town’s topographic setting and the pedestrian access restrictions into account separately in your plans.

Chapel and Half-Timbered Farmsteads

The Chapel of Saint Vitus is one of four cultural monuments in Donawitz; the other three are half-timbered farmsteads. The chapel was built in 1766 in the late Baroque style. One rural farmstead dates from 1834 and is considered an important example of local half-timbered architecture. Its house has a masonry ground floor as well as a half-timbered upper floor and gables; the living quarters and stables are under a shared roof. The chapel and the farmstead offer different architectural perspectives: the former is defined by its construction date and late Baroque style, the latter by its half-timbered structure and shared roof.

The Church of the Three Kings

The history of the Church of the Three Kings goes back to a Gothic parish church, probably built as early as the mid-14th century. In 1678, an early Baroque replacement was built on the site of the original church. This distinguishes two building phases at the same location: the probable Gothic origins and the later replacement building. Compared with the late Baroque Chapel of Saint Vitus from 1766, the history of this church reaches further back and also shows a later structural change at the original site.

Discover more destinations: Uitwa, Pirkenhammer, Schwarzenbach, Bergstadt Platten, Chiesch, Karlsbad, Schönthal, Landeck

Return to the regional travel overview: Karlovy Vary District.