Hrubá Skála

Hrubá Skála (Groß Skal) is a municipality and village in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 600 inhabitants. It is known for the Hrubá Skála rock town.

Administrative parts
The villages and hamlets of Bohuslav, Borek, Doubravice, Hnanice, Krčkovice, Rokytnice and Želejov are administrative parts of Hrubá Skála.

Etymology
The name Hrubá Skála literally means "rough rock".

Geography
Hrubá Skála is located about 6 km southeast of Turnov. It lies in the Jičín Uplands. The highest point is the Stávek hill at 416 m above sea level. The Libuňka stream flows through the municipality. In the southern part of the municipal territory flows the Jordánka brook, which supplies several ponds.

Most of the municipality lies in the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area. West of the Hrubá Skála village is the sandstone Hrubá Skála rock town with volcanic sandstone pillars. The area has been protected as the Hruboskalsko Nature Reserve since 1998 and is a popular destination for climbers and hikers.

History
The castle is situated on a steep sandstone cliff on a rock platform and was originally called Skála. The first written mention of Hrubá Skála Castle is from 1353, seven years before the first mention of the settlement. It was then a possession of the noble Hynek of Waldstein. The manor was called Hrubá Skála to differ it from nearby Malá Skála. His descendants owned the castle until 1416 when it was taken over by the lords of Jenštejn and then, in 1460, by Zajíc of Hasenburg.

Held by the Lords of Smiřice from 1515 onwards, the rebuilt Renaissance castle had become the centre of one of the largest Bohemian estates with more than 50 villages. Seized by Emperor Ferdinand II upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, it was again held by the Waldstein dynasty from 1630 and devastated by both Saxon and Imperial troops during the Thirty Years' War. It was rebuilt in 1710 and again in 1804.

In 1821, Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein sold Hrubá Skála to Johann Anton Lexa von Aehrenthal. In 1859, Hrubá Skála Castle was again rebuilt, this time in the neo-Gothic style.

After World War II, the Aerenthal family was dispossessed in 1945 and the German-speaking population expelled according to the Beneš decrees.

Transport
The I/35 road (part of the European route E442) passes through the municipality.

Hrubá Skála is located on the main railway lines from Prague to Turnov and from Hradec Králové to Turnov.

Sights
The main landmark is the Hrubá Skála Castle. Its present form is a result of modifications from 1923. Under Communist rule, the castle served as a recreation home. Today it serves as a hotel and spa.

The Church of Saint Joseph is located near the castle. It was built in the Neoclassical style in 1812.

Notable people

 * Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal (1854–1912), Austro-Hungarian count and politician