Váté Písky (The Air-Blown Sands) Natural Monument

Bzenec, a town near the Slovak border, has become famous for its wine production and traditional vinegar. And also for the Air-Blown Sands natural monument with an area of almost ninety-five hectares! This biotope can be found along the railway track between the Rohatec-Kolonie and Bzenec-Přívoz stations, in a strip up to sixty metres wide and five and a half kilometres long. It is lined with pines along its entire length to protect the surrounding fields from shifting sand.

The monument is a completely unique example of sand-loving communities with a specific composition of plant and animal species, which is also the main reason why it is protected. It is the largest locality of incidence of plants and animals in the whole Czech Republic. The sands come from the sediments of the Morava River which were air-blown out of the riverbed. Sand dunes just like in the Sahara Desert. In fact, better than the African desert, because instead of going by plane, you can get there by train or car, you will not be bothered by sweltering heat during the trip and there is also enough water around. Anyway, there is no point in describing it any further, you should come and see it with your own eyes.