The vast area between Prameny and Mnichov ranks as one of the most interesting nature parts of the Slavkovský les Mountains. Unlike sandstone or limestone, serpentine, the basic building stone in this area, does not create caves, deep canyons or rock towns, however, it is a host to rare plant communities. This unique “botanic garden” has been accessible by means of a new instructive path called Mnichovské hadce since last year. Its central point is located near the village Prameny in the place called Křížky where there are two most attractive of altogether 12 stops. Rare plant associations which include the local endemite chickweed (cerastium alsinifolium) can be found to the right of the road on small serpentine rocks in the locality Křížky, which is a listed sight. The Globeflower Meadow to the left of the road can boast a number of protected species, especially in the early summer. They are mainly flowers such as the globeflower, arnica or the blue Siberian iris. Other stops are in places where local mineral springs, Grünská and Novoveská, emerge from the ground, near what has been left of peat bogs near the Dominova Rock or historical sights of which the medieval Long Canal is the most interesting. The path is 12 km long and is therefore suitable rather for bikers or a car trip. The photos used originate from the www.kvpoint.cz website – a photo bank of Karlovy Vary Region.Source: www.promenada.cz

Sometime between 1585-1597, a Renaissance chateau was built in the valley below Kynžvart Castle. Its exact appearance is no longer known today, and we do not have any contemporary depictions of the chateau. However, relatively significant parts of the original Renaissance building were preserved in the later Classicist Metternich chateau (for example, complete vaults with trowelled plaster and a number of other Renaissance fragments).However, Kryštof Jindřich mladší z Cedvic actively participated in the Bohemian Revolt against Emperor Ferdinand II. After the Battle of White Mountain, his Kynžvart estate was confiscated, granted on May 23, 1623, and in 1630 ceded to the five Metternich brothers, nephews of the Elector of Trier: Johann Reichart, Karl, Emmerich, Wilhelm, and Lothar for 66,114 Reichsthaler. The Kynžvart estate, along with the ruins of the castle on the hill and the newly built chateau in the valley, then belonged to the Metternichs until 1945. Imperial Count Filipp Emmerich von Metternich (the great-great-great-grandfather of the later chancellor) had a new Baroque chateau built from the remains of the dilapidated Renaissance chateau of the Zedwitz family sometime between 1681 and 1691. As is apparent from preserved iconography, especially from the gouache paintings by Knight Reinach from 1800, the Baroque chateau had the typical character of a country residence, an enclosed complex of farm buildings, with a stable in the entire southern wing and a representative great hall above the central passageway.In the 18th century, the owners mainly lived on their estates in the Rhineland and only visited Kynžvart occasionally. In 1767, the Kynžvart hereditary estate was inherited by the father of the later chancellor, Count Franz Georg Karl von Metternich. He was a very successful career diplomat. He soon became the permanent ambassador of Trier in Vienna, after the death of Emperor Joseph II, he participated in the election and coronation of Emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt, and from 1791 to 1794 he was the managing minister in the Netherlands. During the Franco-Prussian War, the Metternichs' Rhineland properties were completely destroyed, and at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Kynžvart chateau was for a time even the only residence of this prominent family. Only in 1805 did Prince Franz Georg von Metternich, in compensation for his destroyed properties in the Rhineland, acquire the dissolved Benedictine monastery in Ochsenhausen.Clemens Wenzel Lothar Johann Nepomuk, 2nd Prince von Metternich-Winneburg (*May 15, 1773 Koblenz, †June 11, 1859 Vienna) was undoubtedly the most famous owner of the Kynžvart chateau and estate. From 1809 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, and from 1821-1848 he was the Chancellor of the "Habsburg house, court, and state". In 1813 he was elevated to the status of a hereditary prince. Under his direction, the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) took place, which adjusted international relations with a series of treaties after the defeat of Napoleon.Chancellor Metternich lived mainly in Vienna: in the building of the State Chancellery or in his villa on Rennweg. The old Baroque Kynžvart chateau no longer met the chancellor's demands for representation, and so it was rebuilt in the style of Viennese Classicism between 1821 and 1839. The excellent Viennese architect Pietro Nobile had to respect the many of the chancellor's suggestions and demanding requirements. The realization of the plans was not a cheap affair. In September 1822, the banker Salomon Rothschild provided Metternich with a personal loan of 900,000 guilders (i.e., about €45 million), repayable over 12 years with a five percent interest rate. The favorable loan paid off for the banker; six days later, all five Rothschild brothers were granted the hereditary title of Austrian barons. The loan, in turn, helped Metternich to rebuild the Kynžvart chateau, invest capital into the large estates in Kynžvart and Plasy, and also to invest almost half a million guilders into extensive purchases of jewelry, coins, and art collections.Source: www.kynzvart.cz

A walk through the SOOS nature reserve lying six kilometres northeast of Františkovy Lázně is a trip to the times three million years ago. A vast, more than 200-hectar peat bog and moor can be found on the bottom of a dry lake in the area where the last active volcanoes on the Czech territory still existed in early Quaternary. Traces of the volcanic activity have been evident here until these days, mineral springs and, first of all, moffettes which people call mud volcanoes, being the most visible of them. Their murmur is a background sound typical of the place. The SOOS nature reserve has been the object of natural scientists’ attention for more than 200 years and it has been a listed sight since 1964. The access is possible along a two-kilometre-long instructive path with nine stops which follows wooden footpaths and shows you round the most interesting parts of the peat bog. So you can go through the moors past the biggest moffettes and mineral springs dry-shod and you can also taste water from the most famous of them, the Emperor’s Spring. However, those who like live nature, especially rare halophylic plants and birds will be satisfied. About a hundred kinds of birds nest here. And the Geological Park as well as the Museum of Dinosaurs are worth visiting too. The photos used originate from the www.kvpoint.cz website – a photo bank of Karlovy Vary Region. Source: www.promenada.cz

Today, Mariánské Lázně is the second largest spa town in the country, and together with Karlovy Vary and Františkovy Lázně, forms one of the most attractive regions of the country, known as the West Bohemian Spa Triangle.

A small and charming spa town near Karlovy Vary. Among its most notable visitors were Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Strauss, and Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who described these greenery-filled baths as one of the most beautiful places in the heart of Europe.