Kabát's Hill
In the distant past, Kabat's Hill, which connects two parts of town of Krnov: Chomýž and Ježník, apparently only served as pasture. In the 19th century, the "Macnerka" inn was built atop the hill, a popular destination for excursions and a focal point for local social life. However, the inn ceased to exist around the mid-point of the 20th century.
Following World War II, the location was transformed into training grounds for the military, whose former presence can still be felt today in the form of trenches traversing the terrain. The army's use of heavy machinery, slash-and-burn land clearance, and large-scale movement by foot kept the area deforested. A few years after the Soviet troops had left, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation began to take care of the site. Since 1999, there have been on-going efforts to rescue its rare thermophile meadows from extinction. A host of endangered plant and animal species depend on the continued absence of forest cover: reptiles, amphibians, birds – and above all 49 species of butterflies. Here you may encounter, for instance, the endangered Mazarine Blue, the Purple-shot Copper, or the gorgeous Old World Swallowtail. Several species of orchids thrive at this site, represented, e.g. by the Early-purple Orchid or the Common Twayblade.
The starting point of the three-kilometre educational trail, built here in 2017 by the local ČSOP chapter, "Levrekův ostrov", within the context of the NET4GAS Closer to Nature programme, is the "Krnov, Pod Ježníkem" bus stop. The site features nine information panels, with three interactive elements, and five benches for the weary hiker. Visitors are told more about the history of Kabát's Hill and its natural treasures and points of interest, and from a scenic outpost afford a view of the nearby Our Lady of Chomýž funerary chapel.
3
Endangered plants:
Endangered animals:
