Hradec is a small hill in the Frýdlant Hilly Country that punches well above its modest 313 metres when it comes to local legends. Locals actually call it Hůrka or Horka rather than Hradec, and the stories attached to it are stranger than you'd expect from such a low summit.

The hill is made of phonolite and has a dome-like shape with a rounded top and gently sloping sides. Only the summit itself is forested, mostly with spruce, while an active stone quarry cuts into the northern slope. The atmosphere here is quiet and slightly eerie, which perhaps explains centuries of tales about underground passages, a mysterious light that appears at 11pm, and a gate said to open into the heart of the mountain.

How to get to the summit

• From the village of Předlánce - short walk through forest, easy terrain

According to Jan Kroč, author of a book on mysterious places in the Jizera Mountains and Bohemian Paradise, Hradec is said to be one of the spots where a shift between time-space dimensions occurs - alongside places like Veřejová skála at Blaník and Podhorní vrch near Mariánské Lázně. Another legend tells of treasure buried beneath a flat stone on the northeastern slope, guarded by a sudden storm and violent whirlwind.