Town Osek
Official municipality web site      

Gneissic slopes of the Krušné hory (the OreMountains) have been falling down to the shifted valley in the vicinity of Osek for millions of years. The broken landscape is spreading to irregular shapes of the Loučná-Highland and is rising to the abrupt OreMountains hillsides. So there arise big differences in the altitude on a small area of land the lowest part being at the Lower Osek Railway Station in the south and the highest points on the OreMountains tops. The silent deep valley is guarded by Vlčí hora (Wolves´ Mountain – 890 m a.s.l.) remembering plentiful wolves around in the past. The drawn out Stropník rises to 856 m a.s.l. decorating all views of Osek from the south.

The mountainous area is specific for its harsh climate. The ground is coved with snow for sixty days in a year and locals or visitors experience sixty to seventy freezing days on an average in the same period of time but only ten up to thirty summer days. The average January temperature is -5 °C and in July 14 °C, forty to fifty days a year it is clear sky. Up to the 18th century one could have heard wolves´ howling, bears, lynx lived here and other wild animals have preserved up to now.

The town itself, protected from the northern cold wind by the mountains has a warmer climate. The average temperature drops to -2 °C in January and in July rises to 19 °C, fifty to sixty days are summer ones, only thirty to forty days it is freezing. The leeward side makes the air warmer and forms frequent air layers accompanied by fogs. However, the local favourable climate has since long ago attracted the settlers and since the end of the 19th century the tourists as well. Today the town has become an initial point for trips to the surrounding mountain edges and tops, for skiing trips and experience.

If we have a look at Osek from any of the tops around we can see a lot of dwellings, block of flats and family houses surrounded by green vegetation. This impression is magnified by the monastery garden and vast suburban forests. The building of the monastery dominates all town views. The town reaches woody and hilly land and there is a deep valley heading to the ruins of RýzmburkCastle.