Nymburk writer, journalist, and expert on the history of the Central Elbe region, Jan Řehounek, set out along the Elbe River from Kolín to Mělník to convey and present the beauties of this 'golden stripe of the Czech land' to you – the readers. Together with him, we will visit other ancient towns such as Poděbrady, Nymburk, Lysá nad Labem, Stará Boleslav, and Brandýs nad Labem, which are rich in valuable monuments and also have interesting stories of equally fascinating people. We will walk through the floodplain forests near Libice nad Cidlinou, around the former castle of Mydlovar, and along the blind arms of the Elbe with their rare flora. Here, we might also encounter water sprites, will-o'-the-wisps, and wild maidens. We will recall the oldest history of our state at the former acropolis of the Libice Slavic fort, at the vanished castle of Oldříš, at the wooden fortress of Dřevčice, and especially in Stará Boleslav, associated with the murder of Saint Wenceslas. In Kolín, Kovanice, and Brandýs, we will place stones on the faded tombstones of Jewish cemeteries, while in Čelákovice and Lysá, vampires will rise from ancient burial sites. The collected folk tales are filled with marauding knights, robbers, enchanted girls hidden in pines, hidden and discovered treasures, and legends and stories about Princess Libuše, Saint...
