The Chomutov District spreads along the German border in northwestern Bohemia. Known rather as a region of industry and agriculture for the last few decades, it is interesting through seldom types of countryside only scarcely found elsewhere in Czechia. The district's western and south-western parts climb up the eastern slopes of the Doupovské Hory, a heavily eroded, but still the biggest extinct volcano in the country. The north is occupied by the north-east- bound ridges of the Ore Mountains. Viewed from a distance of several miles, they look like a massive, rocky wall which flattens into a pleasant plateau slightly inclining towards Germany. As if split up with a mighty cleaver stroke, the two formations are divided by the deep canyon of the Ohře river. The Ohře leaves the canyon east of Kadaň for a flat lowland of the North-Bohemian Brown Coal District, only now and then cut by brooks and rivulets running down the Ore Mountains. The stream of the Ohře and the morphology of the mountains have predestined human migration routes and settlements of the Celts, Germans, and Slaves, from the prehistoric times down to our era. But the real immigration was boosted only by the medieval boom of mining which gave rise to several mining cities in the Ore Mountains (Hora Sv. Šebestiána, Suniperk, Měděnec, Přisečnice, etc.) Alum was exploited and dressed at Jirkov, Kundratice, and some other piedmont places. The boom of manufacturing which evolved into industrial revolution, gave birth to some not quite usual productions (manufacturing of china, processing of cork, production of ball bearings, seamless tubes, etc.) and networked the area, including the hilly Ore Mountains, with railway tracks. The district's presentday face bears the features of the coal mining boom and power generation, mainly in the lowlands. The mountainous part of the Ore Mountains encompasses many transverse valleys, some even more than 10 kilometres long (e.g. Bezručovo údolí, údolí Prunéřovského potoka, Telšské údolí), which are suitable for trips and biking tours with destinations at top altitudes where vast peat-bogs (e.g. near Hora Sv. Šebestiána, or Výsluní) and romantic rocks (Měděnec) are found between 800 and 900 m above sea level. Other valleys of the Ore Mountains are usually steeper. Some 3 km long, they climb up about 500 m (e.g. údolí Kundratického potoka) at a gradient as steep as 15% which ranks the valleys among the steepest in the mountain range. It is the mountain biker's real paradise. The Ski Sports Centre on the slopes of the Klínovec (1,244 m above sea level) near Loučná and some other places are open in winter. If you prefer long cross-country sküng trips, just visit the Ore Mountains plateau. The preferred final part of such trips is a several miles long enjoyable downhill ride along the Ohře Valley. The good news is that you can use the Chomutov- Vejprty railway to comfortably get up to the Ore Mountains highest altitudes. The slopes and valleys of the Ore Mountains show some interesting testimonies of past cultures (e.g. the l4th century Hasištejn castle ruin), hide a few small dams for drinking water (e.g. Kamenička, also an architectonic sight), and display some natural features (like the remainders of the Ore Mountains' original cellulose flora on southern slopes of the Jedlová hora) and other interesting kinds of vegetation. This brief survey is certainly enough to back the idea that there is much to see in the Chomutov District, be it nature, culture, architecture or history. There are items of local, countrywide, and even wider context, and other just as interesting or as unique in their special ways. Tourists and sportsmen of all tastes, fishers, lovers of castles, châteaus and architecture, museum-goers, hobby archaeologists, botanists, geologists, huntsmen, even the mushroom pickers, who are coming back in the last few years, will not be bored here. Canoeists and lovers of other water sports know the Ohře's upper stream and have recently invaded the waters of the Nechanická přehrada dam to enjoy yachting. Another natural water sports facility is the area around the lake of Kamencové jezero in Chomutov. The nearby zoo displays much of Europe's fauna. To admire the architecture and material culture, you are counselled to see the urban reserve of Kadaň which includes a number of building sights of various styles and also very well-preserved town walls. Redeveloped in the neo-Gothic style, the château of Klášterec nad Ohří is certainly an alluring place, displaying an exhibition of European and Chinese porcelain and inviting to rambling through the beautiful park where many exotic trees have been planted. The place's additional attraction is the Eugenia, a spring of mineral water discovered back in 1883. Another vast park, the layout of which is still the same as in the baroque times, surrounds the late l8thcentury château (former castle) of Červený Hrádek near Jirkov, infa mous for the treaty on the annexation of the Sudetenland by Germany that was signed here before the German occupation. The newly established Museum of Mining which occupies a part of the once important copper mine at Měděnec is a very interesting place. Some monuments of architecture have survived in Chomutov itself. Some of these are the Commendam of the German Knights Order with the early-Gothic St Catherine's Chapel, today District Museum, and the late-Gothic Virgin Mary Assumption Church with a lookout tower. The early-baroque Church of St Ignatius of Loyola, built to Carlo Liraga's design, and the college and grammar school campus bear the testimony to past local activities of the Jesuit Order. More such architectonic works are scattered across the district, like the K. I. Dientzenhofer baroque church at Březno; the late Romanesque church at Údlice; another Romanesque church at Želina; building artifacts like ruins of old hammermills, lime mills near Kovářská; and many more. Přečáply, Škrle, Mašťov and Libědice are places of the historian's and architect's interest.

The Ohře valley as viewed from atop the Mravenčák hill, with the Ore Mountains to the right and the Doupovské Vrchy to the left, and the Šumná peak in the foreground.

The Ohře is a favourite destination for water sports lovers

Nechranická přehrada, primarily a water reservoir for the industry and agriculture, is much used for sports and recreation.

Gallery of the Helping Virgin Mary on the Mědník hill is open for the public.

The Podkrušnohorská Zoo in Chomutov

The lake of Kamencové Jezero in Chomutov, which emerged through flooding of an alum slate pit.

Knight's Festival at Červený Hrádek

Hasištejn. Bohuslav Hasištejnský of Lobkowicze (1461-1510) founded a library of European importance here.

Sala terrena of the château park at Klášterec nad Ohří, with the Most Holy Trinity's baroque church in the background.

The Château of Klášterec nad Ohří with the Museum of China.

The square of Kadaň is presided by the white town hall tower.

This Franciscan Monastery at Kadaň is a National Treasure.

North-eastern slopes of the Klínovec (1,244 m above sea-level) with numerous ski pistes.

Ruins of the lime kiln at Kovářská.