Řáholec Forest

Řáholec is well known because of its famed bandit stories. An honest cobbler, Rumcajs, was exiled to this forest by the mayor of Jičín. He settled there and started his career as an outlaw. He lives there in a cave with his wife Manka and little son Cipísek. And where is this forest? The author of the stories, Václav Čtvrtek, used to say that Řáholec is where we imagine it to be. There is a place near Jičín that could be it though; a forest near Brada conceals a cave, nowadays called the Rumcajs’ Cave. Whether it truly was this cave that inspired Václav Čtvrtek has to remain a mystery.

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