Velká Bukovina

Velká Bukovina (Groß Bocken) is a municipality and village in Děčín District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Karlovka and Malá Bukovina are administrative parts of Velká Bukovina.

Etymology
The name Bukovina is derived from the Czech word buk, i.e. 'beech'. The adjective Velká ("great") distinguishes it from the neighbouring village Malá Bukovina ("Small Bukovina").

Geography
Velká Bukovina is located about 13 km southeast of Děčín and 26 km east of Ústí nad Labem. It lies in the Central Bohemian Uplands. The Velký Pond is located in the eastern part of the municipal territory.

History
Originally, this territory was colonized by the Lords of Klinštejn. The first written mention of Velká Bukovina is from 1454, when the village belonged to Jan of Vartenberk. The Vartenberks acquired the area in 1428, when Jindřich Berka of Dubá sold Žandov and Česká Kamenice to Zikmund of Vartenberk. In 1538, the Žandov estate was acquired by the brothers Přibík and Petr Týnský of Týn, who had built a fortress in Velká Bukovina and set up a separate estate. In 1732, Duchess Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg bought Velká Bukovina and annexed it to the Zákupy estate.

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

Sights
The main landmark of Velká Bukovina is the Church of Saint Wenceslaus. It was built in the Baroque style in 1716 on the site of an older church.

A cultural monument is the former late Gothic fortress from 1536, rebuilt into the early Baroque manor house in 1656. After several modifications it lost the character of a manor house.