Stachy

Stachy (Stachau) is a municipality and village in Prachatice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants. The historic part of the village is protected by law as a village monument reservation. The local part of Chalupy is protected as a village monument zone.

Administrative parts
The villages of Jaroškov and Úbislav are administrative parts of Stachy.

Geography
Stachy is located about 26 km west of Prachatice and 60 km west of České Budějovice. The municipality lies mostly in the Bohemian Forest, only the area of the village of Stachy lies in the Bohemian Forest Foothills. The highest point is the mountain Churáňovský vrch at 1120 m above sea level. The Spůlka Stream flows along the eastern municipal border.

Most of the territory lies within the Šumava Protected Landscape Area and its westernmost part lies within the Šumava National Park. In the park in the centre of Stachy there is a protected area with a rich occurrence of Boletus mushrooms.

Climate
There is a weather station at the summit of Churáňovský vrch called Churáňov. It belongs among the most famous weather stations in the country. It was established in 1952. The lowest temperature of -32.6 °C was measured here in 1956 and the highest temperature of 34.2 °C in 1983.

History
The first written mention of Stachy is from 1587. Originally named Stachov, it was probably founded at the beginning of the 16th century as a hamlet around a glass smelter. From the beginning of settlement in the area, the ethnically Czech population predominated. In addition to glassmaking, the village was known for the production of clogs and wood shingles. In the 19th century, the village expanded to the west, creating the present-day centre of the village.

Transport
There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights
The historic part of the village of Stachy around the road to Vimperk is formed by well preserved folk-architecture timbered houses and is protected by law as a village monument reservation. The main landmarks of the village are the Church of Our Lady of the Sorrows from 1781 and the Church the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, which was built in the Empire style in 1842–1849.

A notable building is also the Chapel of Our Lady of the Sorrows. It was built in the Baroque style in the mid-18th century. It has an unusual mansard roof covered with wood shingles.

The local part of Chalupy is also well preserved and is protected as a village monument zone. It is a small hamlet, formed by concentrated mountain solitudes, mostly from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The houses are a typical example of wooden Bohemian Forest folk architecture.