Kněževes: Hiking Trails, Cycling Routes and Historic Buildings

Marked hiking trails and several cycling routes run through Kněževes, while churches, chapels and other historic buildings shape the village’s character. To help you decide where to travel, you can weigh up route options, landscapes and architectural heritage as different areas of interest. Some routes pass directly through the village, while others lead from here to named destinations.

Hiking and Cycling Routes through Kněževes

A blue-marked hiking trail runs directly through Kněževes. The route passes through Olešnice, Veselka, Kněževes, Studenec, Svojanov and Bystré before reaching Dalečín. The Svojanovsko nature trail also begins in Kněževes and passes through Dolní Lhota and Svojanov before reaching Rohozná. Another, yellow-marked hiking trail leads north from Kněževes through Panský les to the settlement of Dolní Lhota. The named intermediate stops and destinations can help you distinguish between the different route options.

Several cycling routes also pass through Kněževes. Local cycle route 5085 leads from Pustá Rybná, Lačnov, Korouhev and Jedlová through Kněževes, then continues through Ústup and Sulíkov to Rudka u Kunštátu. Cycle route 5086 runs from Svojanov through Hutě, Jobova Lhota, Kněževes, Olešnice, Křtěnov and Hodonín to Nedvědice. The two local cycling routes intersect in Kněževes. A higher-level cycling route, which runs from Kněževes to Kunštát along the old Imperial Road, is separate from these. The cycling routes follow existing dedicated paths and lower-order roads with low traffic volumes.

Natural Landscape and Protected Area

The V Jezdinách Natural Monument lies within the administrative area of Kněževes. It protects a unique landscape complex within a cultural landscape of regional importance, distinguished by high ecological and aesthetic quality. The area is particularly significant for the presence of six orchid species. If you are considering both natural and cultural landscapes when choosing where to travel, V Jezdinách offers a specific point of interest alongside the village’s routes and buildings.

Kněževes is also connected for tourism with the extensive areas of the Údolí Křetínky, Svratecká hornatina and Halasovo Kunštátsko nature parks. This means that, in addition to the individual natural monument, named nature park areas also provide points of reference in the landscape.

Historic Buildings and Local History

The settlement of Veselka in the municipality of Kněževes is designated as a protected village conservation area under ÚSKP number 2333. Kněževes is also home to the Chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene. The small Chapel of Saint Florian has a square ground plan with rounded corners, a round-arched entrance and a four-sided bell tower on its helmet-shaped roof.

The Church of Saint James the Greater is a single-nave building of older origin. Its Baroque design includes a chancel set off to one side and covered by a shallow dome-like vault, as well as an apse. A tower with an onion dome stands on the north side of the chancel; the nave has a cross vault. The Church of Saint John the Baptist is Baroque and includes some older masonry. Its nave has a flat ceiling and a wooden gallery in three sections; the elongated presbytery is covered by two bays of cross vaulting. The architectural features described therefore differ in both the design of the chancel and the form of the ceilings and vaults.

A Baroque stone Marian column stands in front of the rectory on the village square. A statue of the Immaculate Conception stands on its prismatic base with a Composite capital. Another stone wayside shrine is Baroque in style: it consists of a tall shaft with a stone cross and a figure of Christ; the year 1780 is inscribed on its square base.

Wells and rural architecture are further tangible features of the village. A granite well dating from 1684, with rosette reliefs on the sides of its basin, stood at the château in Stránecká Zhoř until 2013 and is now displayed in Kněževes in dismantled form. A small farmstead was originally used as an inn and is regarded as the village’s last surviving wooden house; it retains numerous authentic details. The statue of Saint John of Nepomuk probably dates from around the middle of the 19th century. The year 1891, when it was restored, is recorded on its base.

Discover more destinations: Holštejn, Pametice, Štěchov, Habrůvka, Petrovice, Deštná, Nýrov, Jedovnice.

For the wider travel overview: Blansko District.