Heilige Hallen is a nature reserve on the northern fringe of Saxon Switzerland, where the landscape gently transitions into the Lusatian Highlands. The name refers to the ancient beech forests here, whose tall, straight trunks and dense canopy create a hall-like, almost cathedral atmosphere.

This is a place for those seeking quiet, old-growth forest character rather than dramatic rock formations. The terrain drops steeply from the northern slope of the Tanečnice (nearly 600 m) down toward the Sebnitz river. In summer the forest is cool and shaded, in autumn the beech canopy turns gold across the slope, and in winter the montane climate (average annual temperature of just 7°C) often wraps the area in mist and frost, adding to its atmosphere.

How to get there

• Sebnitz - forest trail through the Sebnitzer Wald, about 1-1.5 hours, easy to moderate difficulty
• Can be combined with a route through the neighboring Gimpelfang nature reserve

Practical information

• Protected since 1961 as part of the Sebnitzer Wald und Kaiserberg Natura 2000 site
• Please stay on marked paths - the area protects rare bat species, including the greater mouse-eared bat
• In the upper part of the reserve look for the 'Taufstein', a low granite boulder with a natural hollow

According to legend, during the Thirty Years' War the residents of Sebnitz took refuge in these woods, and newborn children were baptized in the water collected in the Taufstein.