Frogs croak and croak near Botič - Horydoly.cz - Outdoor Generation

The natural monument of Meandra Botič extends through the entire old Hostivař from below the Hostivařské dam to the castle in Práčy. It is one of the most important protected areas in Prague.

The Botič Valley used to be irregularly but very often flooded with rainwater until the construction of the Hostivařský dam. Since the floods, the stream finally has its own name - botit meant to increase the volume in old Czech. Now, floods in Botič are only rare, when the dam cannot hold huge amounts of water and the dike has to open the outlet to the full. The force of the water is then more destructive, because the local people have long forgotten about the big water and, moreover, the authorities have allowed the construction of many residential houses, sports grounds and industrial plants in the flood zone.

2013: Even the Hostivařská Dam will not prevent floods in Botič

Who hasn't forgotten about the wet and flooded territory here, there are of course frogs. They have found the last wetlands connected to a shallow pond and are having spring orgies in them. Dirty stagnant water, stinking mud and various trees and reeds growing in them do not look attractive to humans, but to amphibians they go to the rainbow. There is no more valuable place in Botič than the wetlands below Toulcov dvor.

Other videos: Frog Courtship 2012 and Frog Concert 2014

The Center for Ecological Education Toulcův dvůr is located in a repaired farmyard in the old Hostivař nad Meandra Botiče. It is the gateway to the frog wetlands. You can see for free not only how the agricultural unit in Central Bohemia used to look (then far beyond Prague), but also go down to the orchard under the yard, where, in addition to local varieties of fruit trees, you will also see common farm animals, goats, cows, rabbits, pigs, and possibly walk all the way down to the stream to the wetlands.

The wetlands under Toulcov dvor are equipped with a small observation pier, a loft path on wet dirt and also bridges over the water. A fence separates the wetland from the bike path along Botič so that access is only possible from above from Toulcov dvor. The reason is the effort to preserve nature in the best possible condition.

NEARBY: Frog courtship in the Dendological Garden of Průhonice

Toulcův dvůr and the ancient Hostivař

Toulcův dvůr has been part of Hostivař for many centuries. The village of Hostivař is mentioned for the first time in Kosm's Chronicle in 1068. The fortress, which is now part of Toulcov dvor, is documented in 1364. The settlement itself is much older. It can be said with great certainty that when people did not yet live in Prague by the Vltava, Hostivař was already full of activity. The mighty fortress of Šance, today located on a promontory above the right bank of the Hostivařské Reservoir, is the oldest in the wider area of ​​Prague and was inhabited as far back as half a millennium before Christ. Even older remains of human society were found in the former sand pit on the left bank of the Botič River, which is now flooded. People lived here already in the Bronze Age, that is, more than a thousand years before Christ.

In 1569, Burgrave Čeněk Míčan bought a farm in Hostivar. In the sales list is a double-length barn and stables for ten horses. From that time until the middle of the 19th century, Toulc's yard belonged to the estates of the Burgrave of Prague. František Toulec was the last agricultural tenant of the regional economic court. The farm was already nationalized after the First World War. In 1977, the farm was repaired and it was called the Castle. Since 1994, there has been an ecological center belonging to the capital city of Prague, which pays for its maintenance and operation. The area is freely accessible, tours are held every week, and several ecologically tuned programs for children and adults run every day.

Transportation

By bike or scooter: Follow the bike path along Botič (Greenway Botič). The route is more or less marked with yellow signs of the Czech Tourist Club and in some places with green and white strip markings on trees or buildings. It runs from the mouth of Botič to the Vltava near the Railway Bridge, under the Nuselský Bridge, around the Hostivařské Reservoir to Průhonice. Below Toulcov dvor, a turnoff leads from the stream to the slope along a non-traffic asphalt road marked as A23 to the Košík housing estate to Toulcov dvor.

On foot: Along the path along the left bank of Botič from Záběhlický castle (not accessible), bus 101 and 138, U Lípy stop. Or from the other side along the historical-natural science trail from Hostivařské náměstí, bus 177 and 181, past Stětí Jan Křtitel church, Na Kačabce pub and the Hostivař village monument reserve.

By public transport: Bus 177 to the Toulcův dvůr stop.

By boat: When there is enough water, or the Hostivařská dam is being drained, you can go by canoe or kayak from the dam to the Marcela dam and walk up the slope to Toulcov dvor above the dam.

INFO: Botič (news from the stream basin) and Toulcův dvůr

Show the place Turistika on a larger map