The town Pec pod Sněžkou is one of the most important mountain resorts for both winter and summer holidays. Mainly thanks to its location between the highest mountain peaks of Krkonoše, thanks to its beautiful scenery and also thanks to its accommodating ski terrains.
Some houses are dispersed on the mountain meadows, but most of them are centered into two valleys. The first is the valley of river Úpa, at the end of which is the beautiful, by glacier created Obří důl (Giant Valley). The other is the valley of Zelený potok.
Pec pod Sněžkou is surrounded with chain of mountains and peaks. To the north-east stands the wooded Růžová hora (1300 m = 4269ft), to the north the 3 highest mountains of Krkonoše - Sněžka (1602m = 5261ft), Studniční hora (1554m = 5103ft) and Luční hora (1547m = 5080ft). To the west are Zadní planina and Liščí hora. The circle is completed by the slopes of Javor, between these and Růžová hora flows the river Úpa.
The mining settlement in Obří důl (Giant Valley) was the first settlement of Pec pod Sněžkou. The very first official records date from 1511. Mainly copper ores and arsenopyrite used to be mined here. The mining continued with some pauses until 1959, when it was stopped definitely. The settlement Pec itself arose only at the end of 16th century and only as a part of much bigger Velká Úpa. Woodcutters from Steiemark, Kärnten und Tirol (Austria) were invited here to supply the silver mines in Kutná hora with wood. They started settling down on new clearings, building their houses (so called chalets) and farming cattle and goats.
A new source of livehood was brought by great bloom in tourism in the second half of the 19th century. At first the tourists were offered lodging on hay, later on the residents started to adapt their houses to tourism and so many chalets, bed&breakfasts and hotels sprung up - picture from the turn of the century.
