Zebín

A 399 m basalt cone above Jičín, crowned by the little baroque chapel of St Mary Magdalene from 1700 — a short, steep climb with a full circle over the Jičín basin.

Zebín is the volcanic exclamation mark of the Jičín basin: a bare basalt cone 2 km north of the town, a natural monument, with the chapel of St Mary Magdalene on its point — built around 1700 by the Carthusians from neighbouring Valdice, and visible from everywhere. The climb is short and steep on informal paths, and the summit gives a full circle: Trosky and the Prachovské skály north, the Velišský ridge south, Kumburk and Tábor on the western horizon.

The natural approach is from the Valdštejnská lodžie and its lime avenue at the foot of the hill; quarrying bit into the cone’s side in the past, which only makes the geology easier to read.