The Benešov Uplands or Benešov Hills () are uplands and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mostly in the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

. It belongs to the largest mesoregions in the country. It is named after Benešov, which is the most populated town in the territory.

Geomorphology

The Benešov Uplands is a mesoregion of the Central Bohemian Hills within the Bohemian Massif. It is a rugged hilly area with erosional denudation relief, tectonically disturbed, with distinct structural ridges and inselbergs. The uplands are further subdivided into the microregions of Březnice Uplands and Dobříš Uplands. There are a lot of medium-high hills. The highest peaks are located in the southwestern part of the territory. The highest peaks of the Benešov Uplands are: *Stráž, *Pteč, *Hrby, *Špalková hora, *Drahenický vrch, *Levín, *Vraneč, *Kozí vrch, *Mumlin, *Holý vrch,

Geography

The Benešov Uplands stretches from southwest to northeast. The uplands have an area of and an average elevation of . It is the fourth largest mesoregion in the Czech Republic. The main watercourse is the

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

River, which flows across the territory from south to north. Several reservoirs built on the Vltava are located in the Benešov Uplands: Orlík, Kamýk, Slapy,

Štěchovice Štěchovice is a market town in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants. Administrative division Štěchovice consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according ...

, and Vrané. The second significant river is the Sázava, which flows from the east until it joins the Vltava. Suitable natural conditions contributed to the creation of many settlements in the Benešov Uplands, but there are no large cities. The most populated towns in the territory are Benešov, Dobříš, Sedlčany, Týnec nad Sázavou, Jílové u Prahy, Bystřice, Rožmitál pod Třemšínem, Kostelec nad Černými lesy, and Mnichovice.

Geology and pedology

The geological bedrock is dominated by

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

s, granodiorites, diorites, and orthogneisses. The soils are shallow or medium deep. Stone is quarried in the territory. The area is also historically associated with gold mining.

Protection of nature

Despite the large area of the territory, there are almost no large-scale protected areas. The only exception is a negligible part of the Brdy Protected Landscape Area, which extends to the territory in the west. The most valuable small-scale protected areas are the national nature reserves ''Ve Studeném'' and ''Voděradské bučiny''.

Gallery

Benešov, Mariánovice, pohled na východ.jpg, Outskirts of Benešov NovyKnin CZ-StredMesta OdZSZ.JPG, Nový Knín and surroundings Periglacialni jevy.jpg, ''Voděradské bučiny'' national nature reserve

References

External links

Map of Benešov Uplands
on mapy.cz {{authority control Mountain ranges of the Czech Republic Geography of the Central Bohemian Region Geography of the South Bohemian Region