Kočičí skála, Natural monument in Mikulov, Czech Republic.
Kočičí skála is a natural monument protecting a limestone rock formation beside the road from Mikulov to Klentnice. The rock is an isolated fragment of Ernstbrunn limestone, with shallow rendzina soils rich in limestone gravel. Its eastern walls and slopes support steppe plants such as Aurinia saxatilis and Pulsatilla grandis.
Limestone was quarried in a small pit on the southwestern part of the rock, and the site was later used for grazing cattle. Since 1997 the locality has been mown regularly, and black locust together with other shrubs spreading across the area was removed. An information board at the site records this management.
The name Kočičí skála means Cat Rock in Czech, though the sources record no folk tale explaining it. The site lies by the road from Mikulov to Klentnice and is regularly mown since 1997; black locust and other shrubs were cleared. Visitors come for the steppe flora, including Adonis vernalis and Pulsatilla grandis.
The site is accessible via marked hiking trails departing from Mikulov that lead through varying terrain. Information panels positioned along the paths explain the geological features to visitors.
Within the protected area lie survey points of Czechia's Basic Geodynamic Network and the national levelling system, fixed markers used for measuring ground movement and elevation. Visitors walking the slope can pass these technical points, which are easy to overlook among the steppe vegetation.
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