Why come here
Art in the middle of the mountains
A bell tower with a gallery and information centre, wooden sculptures scattered along the ridge and views of the Javorníky and the Moravian-Silesian Beskids.
A saddle below Soláň • Vsetínské vrchy • 803 m a.s.l.
Čarták
The saddle where the portáši guarded the roads and painters found their Olympus.
A saddle of three stories
The saddle takes its name from a čarda – a guard post of the portáši on an old trade route. Today, below Soláň, the history of a coaching inn meets a bell tower with a gallery. Wooden sculptures line the ridge.
The mountain above the saddle is nicknamed the Wallachian Olympus – a name earned for it by the painters who used to sit here.
What not to miss
The sculptures in the landscape and the exhibition in the bell tower
Between the bell tower and the former inn stands the sculpture Návrat ztracených ovcí, The Return of the Lost Sheep – and you will meet more than thirty others along the ridge. Inside the bell tower is a permanent display of Wallachian artists and an exhibition hall.
When to come
Any time – the trail is easy
The nature trail along the ridge is roughly 5 km long and passable with a pushchair. The saddle is open to the wind, so a layer more is useful even in summer.
Galerie v přírodě
Thirty-five sculptures along the Soláň ridge
Over roughly five kilometres the trail has ten stops, each with a story told in the Wallachian dialect. Views open on both sides of the ridge along the way, and the route is passable with a pushchair.
- length of the trail
- 5 km
- stops with stories
- 10
- sculptures in the landscape
- 35
The sculptures were made at sculpture symposia by the bell tower and depict figures from Wallachian stories and legends.
The story of Čarták
From a guard post of the portáši through an inn full of paintings to a bell tower that fulfilled a sixty-year-old dream.
The portáši
A guard post at a crossroads
An old trade route from Hungary into Moravia ran through the saddle. From the beginning of the 18th century a wooden guard hut stood here – a čarda – kept by the portáši, the Wallachian land guard, who protected the border, the roads and order in the mountains.
The guard post gave the place its name: the čarda became Čarták. The name passed to the inn, to the saddle and to the bus stop.
The inn on Čarták
A place to sleep that became the Wallachian Olympus
Merchants and carters travelled the route through the saddle – with nowhere here to spend the night or feed their horses. So in 1832 Countess Kinská founded the first coaching inn here – it burned down three times and was rebuilt each time.
The inn made its name under the Vašut family, who took it over in 1884. Among its regulars were painters such as Jan Kobzáň, František Podešva and Karel Hofman – they began calling the mountain Soláň the Wallachian Olympus. They paid the innkeeper in pictures rather than money, and so the first gallery came into being on Čarták.
A mountain hotel stands today where the old inn was.
The Soláň bell tower
A dream that took sixty years to ripen
The idea of building a wooden chapel-cum-bell-tower on Soláň came as early as the 1940s from the painter František Podešva. It took more than sixty years to be realised: on 18 November 2006 Sdružení pro rozvoj Soláně opened a bell tower to the design of the architect Jiří Kotásek. It follows the tradition of Wallachian bell towers, but hides something different inside.
The bell tower holds an information centre, a permanent display of Wallachian artists and an exhibition hall. It opened with the first Valašský salón – an exhibition tradition that Podešva himself had started.
- the foundation stone laid
- 5 May 2006
- the ceremonial opening
- 18 Nov 2006
- the cost of building
- CZK 6.5 mil.
Timeline
Portáši, painters, sculptors
From a guard post of the portáši to a gallery in the open air. Eight stops across three centuries.
18th century
The portáši's čarda
A guard post stands at a crossroads of trade routes, kept by the portáši. After it the place comes to be called Čarták.
1832
The first coaching inn
The inn in the saddle is founded by Countess Kinská. It later burns down three times – and is rebuilt each time.
1884
The Vašuts from Karlovice
The Vašut brothers settle at the inn. In Karlovice people start calling them “the Čarták ones”.
1888
Jura Vašut buys Čarták
He buys the inn from the Kinský estate. In his time Čarták becomes a celebrated stop for walkers and painters alike.
1941
Jindřiška inherits Čarták
Vašut's youngest daughter takes over the inn. Twenty years later she sells it, and the owners then change hands.
1940s
Podešva's vision
The painter František Podešva proposes building a wooden chapel-cum-bell-tower on Soláň – a place of art and information.
2006
The bell tower opens
The foundation stone on 5 May, the ceremonial opening on 18 November. Podešva's vision is realised sixty years on.
2008–2010
Galerie v přírodě
Sculpture symposia by the bell tower and a nature trail along the ridge: 35 wooden sculptures rise in the landscape of Soláň.
Na závěr
Doplňující info a test znalostí
Rychlá rekapitulace
Where does the name Čarták come from?
From the čarda – a wooden guard post that stood here from the beginning of the 18th century on the old trade route from Hungary into Moravia. It was kept by the portáši, the Wallachian land guard.
Who founded the first inn in the saddle, and when?
A coaching inn was founded here in 1832 by Countess Kinská. In 1888 Jura Vašut bought it from the estate, and under him Čarták won its fame among walkers and painters.
Why is Soláň called the Wallachian Olympus?
Because of painters such as Jan Kobzáň and František Podešva, who came here and earned the mountain the nickname. They painted here and paid the innkeeper Vašut in pictures rather than money.
What is inside the bell tower on Soláň?
An information centre, a permanent display of Wallachian artists and an exhibition hall. The bell tower opened on 18 November 2006 – the idea of building it here came from the painter František Podešva as early as the 1940s.
How many sculptures and stops does the Galerie v přírodě trail have?
Along five kilometres of trail there are ten stops and thirty-five wooden sculptures in all. They were made at sculpture symposia by the bell tower and depict figures from Wallachian stories.
Závěrečný kvíz
Otázka 1 z 6
Where does that odd name come from?
Rysík→There is a quiz a little further up. Shall we try it?
A few quizzes and I get glasses, and I will feel properly educated.
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