The Cradle of Bohemia’s Kings

Přemysl, founder of the first Bohemian royal dynasty, came from this village. In the famous legend, he was called away from his plough in what is now called the Royal Field. He thrust his goad into the earth, and the hazel tree that grew from it was shown for a long time. Since Charles IV’s day, Stadice’s inhabitants were obliged to supply its nuts to the royal table. Nearby is Ox Hill, into which Přemysl’s pair of oxen supposedly disappeared, irresistibly depicted in some old engravings. People say manure flows from the hill and oxen can sometimes be heard lowing inside the rock. After Easter in 1445, a stranger appeared here, climbed a tree and wove himself a hut. He claimed that God had appointed him king of Bohemia in a vision. He gathered many followers, but was captured and taken in chains to Roudnice. He proved to be mentally disturbed and spent his remaining days in the solitude and quiet of a Prague monastery.