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The region of Novopacko is situated between the important tourist areas of Český ráj („The Czech Paradise“) and the foot of the Krkonoše Mountains. This attractive area is roughly bordered by peaks with the castles of Kumburk and Pecka, the ruins of Levín and the hill Na Zámkách. Between the valleys and stretched ridges is the town of Nová Paka, with a population of approx. 10 000, mentioned for the fi rst time in 1357. Over many centuries the history of the town was tied to the castle of Kumburk as a vassal town of the Kumburk demesne.
Nová Paka today merges with the village of Stará Paka, which is certainly older even though the fi rst records date back to 1542. Up till now, old timbered rural houses have been preserved in the area, among them an old school from 1799 as the most interesting. At the end of the 19th century Stará Paka became an important railway point. The next important place in the region is the little town of Pecka, a renowned summer resort that was proclaimed a town in 1382. It was established in 1322 below the castle of the same name. This town was especially famous for its writer, adventurer and musician, Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice. He was seized by the imperial army in Pecka and executed in the Old Town Square in Prague in 1621 as a consequence of the uprising of the states. Pecka off ers a very interesting exhibition in the castle, featuring a mediaeval torture chamber, black kitchen and a gallery of modern sculpture, and is certainly worth a visit, as is the nearby town of Lázně Bělohrad where the writer Karel Václav Rais was born. The memorial house of the writer, Památník K.V. Raise, off ers an exhibition of the writer‘s work, which also includes the town‘s history and a gallery of paintings. Fričovo museum („The Frič Museum“), on the other hand, provides a tour of the local topography and nature, and hosts a variety of exhibitions.
The entire area around Nová Paka attracts attention due to the red colour of its soil and the shapes of its hills, which conceal precious stones, fossilised plants and trees. It is a peculiar place, as if self-contemplating, also off erinf beautiful views of the landscape and the nearby Krkonoše Mountains. This character is refl ected in a spiritual world full of secrets and mysteries. It is a region of artists, dreamers, oddities and spiritualists. All these peculiar things, together with the history of the town, are the theme of the historical section of Městské muzeum („The Town Museum“) in Nová Paka, which often also holds interesting exhibitions of art.
Geopark in the Bohemian Paradise, which was included in the prestigious list of the European geopark network in 2005, could be used as a natural textbook of geology. The area of about 700 square km covers the wide range of geological phenomena, palaeontology, mineralogy and archaeology locations and also historical sights.
The area used to be the bottom of lakes and seas during hundreds of million year history of the Earth. The volcano activity has appeared there for several times. In the Tertiary period the sandstone boards were broken by the volcano activity. The molten rocks hardened under the surface in the shape of mounds and cones. The natural powers such as wind, water, frost and sun impacted the Earth surface. They caused the character of the countryside with the wild rocks, volcanoes, rivers, romantic valleys, forests, meadows and ponds. The water activity caused the formation of the unique Bozkov caves with the remarkable carstic phenomenon.
