Broumov

The monastery town of the basin — a Benedictine complex rebuilt by the Dientzenhofers, keeper of a rare Turin Shroud copy, with full services for hikers crossing the stěny.

Broumov is the town the whole basin is named for, and its centre of gravity is the Benedictine monastery: a fortress-sized baroque complex rebuilt by the Dientzenhofer father and son, whose guided tours show the library, the church and the monastery’s odd treasure — a 1651 copy of the Turin Shroud, rediscovered in the church in 1999, one of the very few in existence. On the edge of town stands the timber church of the Virgin Mary, first mentioned in the 14th century and among the oldest wooden churches in central Europe.

For a walker the town is the basin’s service hub — accommodation, restaurants, shops, buses — and the natural overnight between days on the Broumovské stěny and the Javoří hory borderlands.