This village lies near the Holany Ponds (Holanské rybníky) along the Beaver Stream (Bobří potok). Though the population of year-round residents is less than 500, the numbers swell every summer by several hundred more, be they the owners of holiday cottages or visitors to recreation centres, children’s camps or campgrounds. Holany ranks among the very oldest Slavonic settlements in the Česká Lípa district. Its oldest historical documentation dates back to 1352, when the village belonged to the noble house of Berka z Dubé. Most likely, the actual houses at this time stood on the site of the present Holany pond; because of frequent flooding, the residents gradually re-situated their houses on the adjoining rocky promontory. From the mid-15th century, the village was held by the family of Wartenberg, which during the following century gradually consolidated their land-holdings around Česká Lípa. Up to the early 17th century, Holany was a centre of trade and culture, even receiving a licence to brew its own beer. However, by the mid-19th century, the manor brewery had been closed, and Holany had also lost its advantageous position as a market town. Currently, its chief landmark is the single-nave late-Baroque Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the village green. Completed in 1789, its interior vaulting is ornamented with frescoes by J. Kramolín depicting the legend of St. Mary Magdalene. The village also contains several half-timbered houses from the 18th and early 19th centuries.

HORNÍ LIBCHAVA

The village of Horní Libchava, lying to the northwest of Česká Lípa, contains nearly five hundred permanent residents. Lying along the Libchava brook as it flows into the river Šporka, the village holds an advantageous position between several areas of interest for the visitor. The first written documentation of the village’s existence dates back to 1352. The first owners of Libchava and the castle atop Vineyard Hill (Vinný vrch) were most likely the lords of Klinstein, though during the 14th and 15th centuries, Horní Libchava was divided among several different fiefs. From 1653 up until the 1920s, Horní Libchava was the property of the Knights of Malta. Chief landmarks in the village are the chateau and the church of St. James the Greater. The chateau was constructed in 1574 at the bequest of Jindřich z Vartenberka. After 1623, it served as the residence of the chief prior of the Order of Malta until 1918. During World War II, the Nazi occupation forces used the chateau as a command headquarters; after liberation, it was assigned to the Czechoslovak Army, which used it as a medicine storage depot. Since 2002, it has been the property of the village. Of equal interest is the church, which is now being repaired by the efforts of a citizen’s alliance, “Občanské sdružení Jakub”, as well as the Baroque plague column.

HORNÍ POLICE

First mentioned as “Palicz” in a document from Pope Gregory X from 1273, Horní Police is famed for the finding of a statue of the Virgin Mary during a flood in 1523. A Marian monument with two faces stands on the site of the find, across from the two bridges across the river Ploucnice – the old one with voussoir arches being a cultural technical monument dating back to 1840, and a modern one.
At the centre of the village of 600 inhabitants, the Valdek Brook joins the river, the final tributary of the Elbe in Bohemia and the water source for the outdoor swimming area.
Standing at the eastern edge of the Central Bohemian Mountains nature reserve, the village has both a Baroque deanery church (an important pilgrimage site) and a chateau, and forms a picturesque view from Watchtower Hill (Strážný vrch, 601 m) or Court Hill (Dvorský kopec, 527 m). The village can easily be reached by road or by rail along the track from Česká Lípa to Děčín. The parts Stoupno, Bela and Podlesi also belong to this village.

KOZLY

A village of only 125 permanent residents, Kozly has 1/3 of its residences used as recreational homes. Its first historical record is from March 1371, when the magistrate Franz and the burghers Heinrich and Jakob, brothers from the family of Weitmuhle, each gave a yearly payment of twice three-score groschen and thirty-three and a half groschen in yearly rent for the new altar at St. Sigismund’s Church for the village of Kozly. Originally, the village belonged to the yeoman family of Dolany, and later to the lords of Berka z Dubé.
The village’s name is derived from the nearby hill “Kozel” [literally, billy-goat]; covered in forest, it allows for a view of the surroundings only during the seasons when the trees have shed their foliage. In addition to the hill, points of interest include the geological formations of volcanic outcrops and lava fields, as well as the well-preserved architecture of the village’s houses.
Beside the path above the village is one of around ten medieval stone crosses to have survived in the district. These stone crosses (or at other times monoliths) were built, as often confirmed from historic documents, as crosses of reconciliation, erected as part of a concord or punishment. A similar cross can also be found in the town of Žandově. Half of the village lies inside the boundaries of the Central Bohemian Mountains Nature Reserve.

KVÍTKOV

Kvítkov lies around six kilometres to the southwest of Česká Lípa. Nearly 180 year-round inhabitants reside there, yet their number rises in the summer months by several hundred holiday residents or visitors in several garden allotment colonies and recreational homes. The earliest confirmed written documentation of the village dates from 1295, in which Kvítkov is mentioned under its original designation of Blumstein. At this time, the village was part of the holdings of Jan Vlk, thane of the Vlk z Kvítkova house; a fortified tower once stood on an isolated sandstone outcrop to the west of Kvítkov, but was abandoned, most likely in the late 15th century. By the early 16th century, the village had its own school and a hundred years later, it was listed as part of the Kounitz family’s estate of Nový Zámek. Thanks to its distance from the main roads, Kvítkov was spared the impact of the Austro-Prussian wars of the 18th century; soldiers only reached the village by 1813, when several Prussian divisions were accommodated briefly in late summer.
Standing above the village is a statue of St. Barbara; the primary landmark is St. James’s Church. The village directly adjoins the “Peklo” National Nature Reserve.

PROVODÍN

The village of Provodín lies eight kilometres to the southeast of Česká Lípa, spread along the south-western slope of the Provodín Rocks, and currently has nearly 700 permanent residents. The first written reference to the village dates from 1376. Even in medieval times, Provodín was divided, because of its extensive area, into two parts, an “Upper Provodín” and a “Lower Provodín”. During the Thirty Years’ War, and the Prussian wars in the following century, Provodín was frequently pillaged and put to the torch. By the 19th century, it was a primarily agricultural village, until quarries for glass-making sand were opened towards the century’s end. Sand for the glass industry continues being mined today, and since 1992 has attracted international investment. Included in the village today is the formerly independent settlement of Srní u České Lípy, which developed in connection with the wood-processing industry. One curious feature is the location of the railway stop for the village of Jestřebí directly in the middle of the built-up part of Provodín. To the northeast of the village are the Provodin Rocks (Provodínské kameny), a protected natural area of 2.6 hectares. The most striking of these formations is the “Bald Cliff” (Lysá skála), also known as the Sleeping Maiden (Spící panna), with an elevation of 419 m. above sea level and good views of the Lužice Mountains and Mácha’s  Country.

SOSNOVÁ

A village of 740 inhabitants, it lies directly on the southern edge of Česká Lípa, particularly the complex of industrial zones in the Common Forest (Obecní les). Up to the 16th century, the history of the village is extremely vague; the recorded past of the villages of Sosnová and Lesná starts with the foundation of their alderman’s books in 1554. Since this book has now vanished, we can at least assume that the villages were founded before its creation. What may be the first written references to Sosnová and Lesná can be found in the old town chronicle of Česká Lípa, kept from 1524 to 1564, and given in their original German designations. Originally, the village was called Kynast, and was most likely established by artisans summoned from the town of Krupka for the construction of the new chateau in Zahrádky by Václav Vartenberk (Wartenberg). The village was repeatedly sacked during the Thirty Years’ War. At the end of the 18th century, an imperial high road was constructed through the village; during the same era, Sosnová gradually became an outlying suburb of Česká Lípa. In 1856, it was struck by a devastating fire, which consumed even the chapel; this building was reconstructed in the Neo-Gothic style in 1901. By law, on March 19 1873, the villages of Sosnová and Lesná were granted the standing of independent villages.

STRUŽNICE

With over 900 inhabitants, this small town spreads along the valley of the river Ploučnice at an elevation of around 280 m. above sea level, though the surrounding forested hills reach an elevation of nearly 600 m. Chief among the hills is the long spine of the Kozel hill (literally ‘billy-goat’). Two-thirds of the village’s territory lies in the Central Bohemian Mountains Nature Reserve (CHKO České Středohoří). Included since 1964 as part of Stružnice is the former town of Jezvé and the tiny settlements of Stráž u České Lípy and Bořetín. Stružnice is first mentioned in a document from 1281 as the property of Záviše ze Stružnice from the family of the lords of Klinstein, though the oldest part of the town is in fact Jezvé, first mentioned in writing in 1197.
Elevated to the status of a small town by Emperor Rudolf II, its most significant monument is the Baroque church of St. Lawrence by the architect Anselmo Lurago from 1746–1756. Inside the church is a historic organ dating from 1796. Other noteworthy items are the sculpture of St. Immaculata, St. Lawrence and St. Wenceslas from 1707, the statue of St. John of Nepomuk, the parish house, the footbridge across the Valteřice brook, the houses around the main square, the former monastery farm in Bořetín, and the linden alley. Many attractive buildings of half-timber construction typical for the Lužice region can also be seen.

STVOLÍNKY

Lying in the valley of the “Beaver Brook” (Bobří potok) is this village of three hundred permanent inhabitants. The earliest historically confirmed written mention of Stvolínky dates from 1197; at a later date, the freeholders’ manor house was replaced with a Gothic fortress surrounded by a moat 10 to 12 metres in width. Towards the end of the 14th century, the castle of Ronov, the family seat of one branch of the noble house of the lords of Dubé, was constructed on a nearby hill. Also mentioned in documents from the 14th century is the Church of All Saints, which is regarded as one of the very earliest churches in Bohemia. In 1505, Stvolínky was given the status of a small town, and the fortress rebuilt in the years 1520 – 1538 as a chateau in the Renaissance style. At the beginning of the 17th century, Adam Hrzán z Harasova brought the building work to completion, creating a true Renaissance chateau with arcades surrounding an inner courtyard. During the 16th century, the town witnessed much growth, with markets regularly being held. In 1950, the chateau was assigned to the local collective farm, and then transferred to the ownership of the village. In 1970 it was adapted to serve as a district archive and depository for the district museum, but is now empty.

VOLFARTICE

A town of six hundred inhabitants, nearly 4 km in length, it lies in a valley bounded by basalt hills covered with mixed coniferous-deciduous forests, around 8.3 km northwest of the town of Česká Lípa. Running through the centre of the town is the Libchava brook, formerly used for raising trout. The highest point of the surrounding terrain is the hill of ‘Radečský kopec’, with a height of 560 m. above sea level. An inscription from the oldest chronicle states that on the site of present-day Volfartice existed two noble estates with two manor houses – the first standing across from the church, to which it was connected by a leather footbridge and according to legend built in 1383, while the second stood atop “Hunger Hill” (Hladový vrch). The church is consecrated to the saints Peter and Paul, and was originally completed in 1336, though it has been extensively rebuilt over the centuries. Both estates frequently changed hands (after 1620 belonging to the Knights of Malta, like the estate and manor in Horní Libchava); only in 1718 was it purchased by Lord Gregor Albert z Horní Police, who transformed it into an agricultural fief. The noble house of Horní Police held both parts of the village up until 1850, when they were combined into the single town of Volfartice.

ŽANDOV

The town of Žandov lies on the right bank of the river Ploučnice, 256 m above sea level, at the point where the “Willow Brook” (Vrbový potok) flows into the river in the Central Bohemian Mountains nature reserve. Žandov, including the adjoining villages of Valteřice, Heřmanice, Velká Javorská, Radeč and Dolní Police, has just under 2000 inhabitants. The first written documentation of Žandov is from 1282; in 1340 it is known to have been a possession of Lord Půta ze Žandova, who lived at the manorial estate – a fortification in the northern section of Žandov (believed to be the ground floor of house no. 58). Corresponding to the significance of the locality is the parish church of St. Bartholomew, first mentioned in 1341. Another important landmark is the statue of St. Sebastian on the town square, commemorating the end of the plague in 1740. Across from the statue is a fountain dating from 1853. One unusual monument is the cross of reconciliation, one of the oldest in the region. In 1938, Žandov was part of the German-occupied Sudetenland; after 1945, it acquired a population of Czechs and Slovaks. In 1980, Žandov was degraded to the status of a central village, though in 1998 it regained its standing as a town.