NPR Mionší
Life and culture
People in the Těšín Domain mountains lived in very harsh conditions and poverty hard to imagine. They had an unbelievably humble lifestyle. In order to survive, they had to be self-sufficient, grow and raise everything, make things out of their own raw materials (wood, wool, linen), and buy as little as possible. Thanks to that, the indigenous culture survived much longer in the mountains than it did in the lowlands. The Walachian immigrants would not conform themselves to the culture of the original foothill inhabitants but kept their own and spread it across the mountains. The house effectively comprised two separate log cabins connected with a roof and an enclosed hallway. One of the cabins contained the living chamber; the other one, a cow shed or pantry. The house had no chimney. Compulsory chimneys had been introduced by Maria Theresa in 1751, but nobody built them in the mountains. Why? An excerpt from a letter to the provincial government will explain: “Our entirely wooden houses are only worth 20–30 Rhine guilders, and the cost of 50–60 Rhine guilder per chimney cannot be afforded. Such a device cannot be managed without knocking down the whole cottage…”
An owl smaller than a blackbird
Did you know that there was an owl the size of a sparrow in the Czech Republic? It’s called the Pygmy Owl and feeds on rodents and tiny birds. It rarely nests in the Beskids, but can be spotted at Mionší.
The Night Violet
This is the herbalist’s name for the Perennial Honesty, growing mostly in scree forests. Its popular name stems from the fragrance it gives out largely at night to attract moths to pollinate it. After the tiny violet flowers wither, it is easily noticeable with its large dry fruits. (Author: Ing. Vojtěch Bajer)
