John Lennon Memorial in the Forest above Česká Skalice

The John Lennon memorial in Česká Skalice stands in the forest above the Řezníčkova rokle gorge in the Náchod District of the Czech Republic. Miroslav Zvonař and Jiří Mervart set it up in 1986, during communist rule, after the Lennon Wall in Prague. A metal cross by Miloš Kvaššay replaced it in December 2012.

A small copy of the Prague wall, made in 1986

In 1986 Czechoslovakia was still a one-party state. The Lennon Wall in Prague had been painted over again and again, and since December 1984 police had broken up the gatherings there. Two friends, Mirek Zvonař and Jiří Mervart, known as Šiškin, wanted a similar island of freedom above Česká Skalice. They chose a spot in the woods above Řezníčkova rokle, a short gorge outside the town, and built their own memorial there.

The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes now includes the site in its register of places of memory from the communist period. It sits in the same group as the Lennon Wall in Prague and the cairn on Smrk in the Beskydy.

The 2012 cross

On the anniversary of Lennon's death in December 2012 a new metal cross went up. Sculptor Miloš Kvaššay made it, with a peace symbol and Lennon's name cut into the metal. A local club of artists and freethinkers looks after the place today.

Walking the John Lennon Trail

The memorial is on the Stezka Johna Lennona, a marked loop of 0.7 km that starts at the Bažantnice entrance. Information boards stand at both ends, and the town information centre hands out a printed guide.

From the railway station (about 1 km) or the Husovo náměstí bus stop (about 800 m), go along T. G. Masaryka street towards the centre and down to the Úpa river. Cross the bridge, climb the stairs to Pod Lesem street and follow the path into the forest. The memorial is roughly 200 m in.