Lookout tower Neštětická hora

Neštětická mountain is located about 5 km from Neveklov to the northeast. It is about 10 km west of Benešov. It is here, at an altitude of 536 meters, that is a monument - a concrete lookout tower.

Its total height is 16 meters and the viewing platform is located at a height of 12 meters above the ground. A total of 48 steps lead to it and, unfortunately, there is a view only to the north and northeast. Nevertheless, it is good to see the panorama from Jílové to Týnec nad Sázavou.

The lookout tower is freely accessible without restrictions. If you go here on foot, it is best to go from the village of Chvojínek along the yellow tourist route. The road is about 1 km long. From the other side of the mountain you can go from the road leading from Neveklov to Benešov from the crossroads to Neštětice. There is also a road about 1 km long and marked with a yellow tourist sign. It is a forest road winding between fields.

The lookout tower has been located on Neštětická Hora since 1927. It is basically a monument commemorating the historical event of the peasant uprising of 1627. The revolt against the oppressor Pavel Michn of Vacínov was then led by Adam Hodějovský and Matouš Ulický. During the armed conflict, the peasants were in this very place, on Neštětická hora.
The memorial to this event was erected here 300 years later and was attended by locals. On their initiative and thanks to the builder Mařík, a building 12 meters high was created, having the function of a monument and a lookout tower at the same time. It was inaugurated on August 18, 1927.

At the time of the previous regime, the monument was rather dilapidated. The military garrison resided on Neštětická Mountain and the lookout tower seemed to be erased from tourist maps. No one kept the lookout tower for many years, which fundamentally affected the final state. Neveklov has been trying to repair it since 1994.

The current state of the lookout tower is not great. It is mostly devastated and generally neglected. Even at the beginning of this millennium, any view of the wider surroundings was almost impossible. The village of Neveklov then came up with a proposal to cut down trees in the vicinity of the monuments, but it encountered resistance from nature conservationists. It was even an increase of the monument by a wooden superstructure.

Part of the tree was cut down in 2006 and in 2007 some of the trees were destroyed by a hurricane. Nevertheless, the view from the monument is not very good.

In 2008, the village of Neveklov managed to buy land under the lookout tower and set up a forest path leading to the top of the hill where the lookout tower is located.

At the beginning of 2011, the lookout tower of the Neveklov municipality declared the property abandoned.

Author: Andrea Štyndlová