Ponds Hostivické, Natural monument with pond system in Hostivice, Czech Republic.
Ponds Hostivické is a protected natural monument in Hostivice, made up of three connected ponds surrounded by forest and wetland areas. Marked walking paths run between the ponds, passing through different sections of the site.
The pond system served as a water source for Prague Castle during the reign of Rudolf II, though the exact size of the network then is unknown. A 1662 urbarium records Litovický, Hoření and Kaprový ponds, and a 1723 plan by surveyor Antonín Leopold František Klose shows seven ponds. By 1918 only three remained: Kala, Břve and Bašta. Litovický Pond was restored in 1924–1925, and the nature monument was established on 14 October 1996.
The name Břve, first recorded in 1184, comes from the wooden beams laid across the marshy paths. Since 1996 the Czech Union for Nature Conservation has managed the monument, and its Hostivice branch organises volunteer work and nature walks here.
The area sits close to the center of Hostivice and can be reached by bus from Prague without much effort. The paths are open all year, but sections near the water can be muddy, so sturdy footwear is a good idea.
In 1972 a rare fungus was found here that had been recorded at only two other sites in the former Czechoslovakia at that time. This made the area a reference point for mycologists studying rare species in the region.
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