Kalvárie (Tři kříže)

A 239 m rock above the Porta Bohemica river gate with three crosses on its summit — a nature reserve of steppe flora and the classic view of the Labe entering the Středohoří.

Kalvárie is the rock that guards the Porta Bohemica — the “Gate of Bohemia”, the 3 km narrows between Velké Žernoseky and Libochovany where the Labe cuts into the volcanic hills. Three crosses stand on its summit; wooden ones are recorded here as early as 1587, and the legends about them are as varied as legends get. The drop to the river below is the reason to come: the classic upstream view of the water threading between the hills.

The rock and its slopes have been a nature reserve since 1993 — under 9 hectares, but dense with steppe species: feather grass, irises, milkvetch. Stay on the paths; the reserve is small and the ground fragile. The red-marked left-bank trail from Libochovany towards Litoměřice passes directly over it.