Mařský vrch, Natural monument and lookout tower in Svatá Maří, Czech Republic

Mařský vrch is a natural monument on a hilltop about 1¼ km east of Štítkov in the Prachatice district, protecting a boulder field of syenite porphyry on the northern slope. The stone sea is roughly 150 m long and 40 m wide, sloping at 30°, with slabs 1 to 3 m across. A 10 m lookout tower and the rotunda of St. Wenceslas stand nearby.

The natural monument was declared on 24 May 1989 by the Prachatice district national committee, effective from 1 July 1989, with a 50-metre buffer zone around it. The nearby rotunda of St Wenceslas dates from 1935 and is reached by a Stations of the Cross path; the ten-metre lookout tower stands close by.

The rotunda of St. Wenceslas dates from 1935, not 1936, and stands near the lookout tower on Mařský vrch. A Křížová cesta, or Stations of the Cross, leads to it, so the chapel is reached by a devotional path rather than standing alone.

The walk takes roughly one hour on a clearly marked trail through forest, making it accessible to most visitors. The route climbs steadily but not steeply, with occasional openings that reveal the landscape ahead.

The boulder sea is about 150 m long and 40 m wide, sloping at 30°, and its blocks are 1 to 3 m across. Parallel cracks on the boulders show the rock is still splitting apart, so the field is a process in progress rather than a finished formation.