According to historians, the Devil’s Furrow was both an ancient and an early medieval trade route leading through the Sasau fords and the Labe (Elbe) River region, all the way to Southern Bohemia. From there it continued to the Danube, northwards to Chotouň village. Legend has it that it was made by St. Procopius after he had yoked a demon to his plough. The road, 21 km long, consists of a massive ditch 14 to 20 m wide with a level bottom 2 to 6 m deep and sloping sides. In some sections the furrow even has two lanes. Together with several other parallel roads, it connected fords on the Sasau River with those on the Elbe River, 35 km away.
It is exceptional in that it avoids the central area around Prague, unlike other provincial routes of later construction, which converge on Prague in a star-shape pattern. Hence the theory that it originated before Prague became an important city.
According to historians, the Devil’s Furrow was both an ancient and an early medieval trade route leading through the Sasau fords and the Labe (Elbe) River region, all the way to Southern Bohemia. From there it continued to the Danube, northwards to Chotouň village. Legend has it that it was made by St. Procopius after he had yoked a demon to his plough. The road, 21 km long, consists of a massive ditch 14 to 20 m wide with a level bottom 2 to 6 m deep and sloping sides. In some sections the furrow even has two lanes. Together with several other parallel roads, it connected fords on the Sasau River with those on the Elbe River, 35 km away.
It is exceptional in that it avoids the central area around Prague, unlike other provincial routes of later construction, which converge on Prague in a star-shape pattern. Hence the theory that it originated before Prague became an important city.