The Železná Way

Praha – Beroun – Mariánský Týnec – Plasy – Kladruby – Železná – 257 km

The Železná route combines picturesque views of the Berounka valley with Baroque Gothic gems from the workshop of Jan Blažej Santini Aichel. The Prague – Železná route is part of an international long-distance tourist route via Nuremberg, Geneva and Le Puy en Velay, and in the Czech Republic you can also find the designation I24.

Route map

Route description

The Železná Way of Saint James starts at the Basilica of St. James the Greater in downtown Prague and joins the Všeruby Way of St. James following the Vltava river all the way to Chateau Zbraslav. Members of the House of Přemysl are buried in the adjacent Church of St. James. Crossing the Berounka river on its way to Radotín, the route runs through the villages of Vonoklasy and Mořinka towards the Karlštejn Castle built by Charles IV to safeguard Czech Crown Jewels.

In Karlštejn (at the crossroads below the castle) the two routes split, and the pilgrim continues to Sv. Jan pod Skalou, a charming place where St. Ivan the Hermit lived. The way then goes to the royal town of Beroun; yet another church dedicated to St. James can be found here. From Beroun, running through the woods in the Talich Valley and along the Děd hillside, it approaches Nižbor with a chateau perched high up on a promontory. And then it goes on to Roztoky in the picturesque countryside of the Křivoklátsko nature reserve. The way zigzags through remote parts of the Berounka river valley turning into a paradise for all canoeing enthusiasts every summer until Liblín and then it is heading through Kozojedy to Kralovice.

The pilgrim can admire one of the Baroque Gothic gems by the architect Jan Blažej Santini Aichel in the nearby village of Mariánský Týnec. The route continues through Žebnice with the Church of St. James to Plasy and there is yet another Santini Aichel’s piece of art, a large Cistercian monastery with its unique underground water system. From here, it runs through the northern Pilsen region along a kaolin mine towards one more Church of St. James in Ledce.

Passing the Krkavec lookout tower, the trail is heading towards the Hracholusky reservoir and after that to the former silver-mining town of Stříbro with a line of pre-WWII fortifications. It goes to Kladruby next, with the Church of St. James and the nearby former Benedictine monastery, again redesigned with participation of Jan Blažej Santini Aichel. The series of seven churches of St. James along the Železná Way ends in Hostouň. From there, the route continues to the town of Bělá nad Radbuzou where you can admire an old stone bridge decorated with statues of saints. Through the remote border region, it finally leads the pilgrim to the Park of Reconciliation at the Železná / Tillyschanz border crossing.

The Prague-Železná Way, also known as the I24 hiking trail in the Czech Republic, is part of an international long-distance tourist trail passing through Nuremberg, Geneva, and Le Puy en Velay.