Běchary: Hotels and Accommodation

Běchary and its surroundings have been intensively settled since the Neolithic period. The oldest surviving written mention of Běchary is associated with a urbarial register of the Prague bishopric; according to a later analysis, it dates from 1283 to 1284. Bronze temple rings from the mass grave at Běchary also point to an earlier past: they date the grave to the 9th century.

Culture and History

In the centre of Běchary, on the road to Kopidlno, stands the Church of St Adalbert, surrounded by a cemetery. The originally Gothic building was probably constructed in the 14th century and was rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1708 after a fire in 1692. St Adalbert's is a single-nave rectangular building with a polygonally closed presbytery and a three-storey prismatic tower.

A statue of Saint Wenceslas stands in a landscaped park on the village square in Běchary. The sandstone statue was commissioned by the municipality in 1883 and created by the sculptor Antoním Myslivec from Hořice. In the same park, near the statue of Saint Wenceslas, there is a stone pillar with a statue of Saint Francis of Assisi. It is made of light, soft sandstone; the year 1775 is inscribed on its pedestal.

Below the church, a monument to those who fell in the First World War stands in a small park. It was ceremonially unveiled on 18 May 1922. The performances of the Běchary amateur dramatics group focus on historical figures from Běchary, Kopidlno and the surrounding area. The Běcharáci association also maintains the tradition of the carnival procession in Běchary.

Landscape and Nature

The Stříble stream flows through Běchary and is a left-bank tributary of the Mrlina. The village lies on the boundary of the geomorphological units of the Jičín Uplands, the Central Elbe Table and the East Elbe Table.

Kojetín Pond is a 12.1458-hectare natural monument and an important ornithological area. Migratory birds find suitable conditions there for regular stopovers and nesting. Rare amphibian species and otters also live in Kojetín Pond.

Local Area and Transport

Běchary has a bus stop served by the IREDO transport system in fare zone 561.

You can also visit the local pages for Kbelnice, Brdy, Jičín, Mladějov v Čechách, Zámezí, Třtěnice and Prachov.

For the higher-level travel overview: Jičín District.