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The Ploučnice Hole (also known as the Hellmouth, Thunder Wound or Devil's Hole) is an artificial water tunnel through which the Ploučnice River flows. It is located in the Česká Lípa district between Stráž pod Ralskem and Noviny pod Ralskem in the Ralskem hilly area. When the water level is high enough, it is used by boaters.Description of the place:The river, which flows from Stráž between meadows, flows into a gorge between steep sandstone walls. After about 50 metres it turns to the right and flows into the first tunnel, about 13 metres long. It then rises to the surface in a ravine for about 10 metres and continues through a second tunnel, 41 metres long. The tunnels were made by hand with a pickaxe and are 3.5-4 m high and wide. Holes used to embed five wooden weirs and a cap can be seen in the walls. At the end, the water falls down about a metre into a pool under the rock wall.Origin:Probably in the 16th century, an attempt was made to build a water reservoir to power the iron hammer in Noviny pod Ralskem. The riverbed of the Ploučnice was dammed up with an earthen dam and the river was led into an extended rock gorge called the Hell's Gully. The tunnel was driven through the rock massif in a primitive way, using only picks and shovels. However, the surrounding rocks, made of sandstones of the Upper Turonian, let the water through well, so the reservoir never filled up and the water had to be fed to the hammer by a dam from Stráž. Nothing has survived from the hammer below the spillway. In the 19th century, a local miller used to bring visitors who were fascinated by this waterworks by torchlight. Nowadays, the place is known especially among boaters, for whom it makes the Ploučnice River more interesting.The river can be seen by tourists even today from the red marked route leading from Stráž to the top of Ralsko Mountain and to Mimon. The nearby road through the village of Noviny leads to cycle routes No. 241 and 3007.Filmmakers have used the site for the filming of the movies Journey to Prehistory, From the Hell of Happiness, The Princess and the Scribe and ...Protected Monument:The Ploučnice Rift was declared a cultural monument by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic on 17 December 1997.