The best city hikes and walks around Ústecký kraj

Beautiful animals. You rarely see them like this, and they're used to tourists. Great photos are possible here.

We were lucky and the church was open; it was small with many pictures, quite different from typical churches, but totally worth seeing.

The Thuns undertook two fundamental and comprehensive interventions in the palace. The first, the High Baroque remodeling, took place in the last three decades of the 17th century at the instigation of Maximilian Thun, the imperial envoy and diplomat. His primary aim was to strengthen the ceremonial function of his estate and appropriately demonstrate the family's wealth and influential position. The main axis of the entire project was the new access road, the so-called "Long Drive" ("Dlouhá jízda"), which leads to the upper gate in front of the completely rebuilt entrance wing. Along this road, he had an ornamental garden (now the Rose Garden) laid out symmetrically on one side and an equestrian area on the other. Down in the town, practically at the foot of the Schlossberg, Maximilian and his brother Johann Ernst had the palace church "Elevation of the Holy Cross" built (the architect remains unknown to this day).

Děčín Castle (German: Tetschner Schloss) is located on a rocky ridge near the Elbe River in the town of Děčín (Tetschen) in the Czech Republic. The castle dates back to a fortification built by the Přemyslids at the end of the 10th century (mentioned in 1128) to control shipping on the Elbe. In the 13th century, the wooden structure was converted into a stone castle and expanded. The Bünaus converted the complex into a Renaissance castle in the 16th century, but were forced to sell it to the von Thun family after the Thirty Years' War because of their Protestant faith. The von Thuns occupied the castle until 1932, then sold it to the state for financial reasons and relocated to Jílové (Eulau). See: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_D%C4%9B%C4%8D%C3%ADn

To the left of the entrance to Děčín Castle stands the wooden knight.

The Old Town Bridge (Czech: Staroměstský most) in Děčín is a late-Gothic sandstone bridge spanning the Ploučnice River. It is decorated with sculptures dating from 1714, including depictions of Bohemian patron saints. It was built between 1564 and 1569 on the foundations of a previous structure and now serves as a pedestrian and bicycle path. The bridge is 84 meters long and 4.8 meters wide. In the center is a sculpture by the Baroque sculptor M. J. Brokof depicting Saints Vitus, Wenceslas, and John of Nepomuk, as well as reliefs of the Martyrdom. The bridge has been repaired several times, including in 1985 and after the floods of 2002.

The Rose Garden is undoubtedly the most attractive part of the palace grounds. Its charm lies in the combination of unique Baroque architecture with the captivating beauty of blooming roses. To the west, the Rose Garden is bordered by the Sala Terrena, with its preserved frescoes dating from 1678; the eastern end forms a sweeping gloriette decorated with a Baroque statue gallery. The name Rose Garden came into use around 1881, after one of the most famous rose gardens of the Habsburg Monarchy was created here. See: https://www.zamekdecin.cz/de/info/uber-das-schloss/schlossgarten/rosengarten

Děčín Castle (German: Tetschner Schloss) is located on a rocky ridge near the Elbe River in the town of Děčín (Tetschen) in the Czech Republic. The castle dates back to a fortification built by the Přemyslids at the end of the 10th century (mentioned in 1128) to control shipping on the Elbe. In the 13th century, the wooden structure was converted into a stone castle and expanded. The Bünaus converted the complex into a Renaissance castle in the 16th century, but were forced to sell it to the von Thun family after the Thirty Years' War because of their Protestant faith. The von Thuns occupied the castle until 1932, then sold it to the state for financial reasons and relocated to Jílové (Eulau). See: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_D%C4%9B%C4%8D%C3%ADn