The best walks and hikes in Npp Prameniště Blanice

The founding of the place was related to the general settlement of the Bohemian Forest in the 13th and 14th centuries. New villages emerged, predominantly with a German population, often originating from the Passau region. Another important circumstance for its founding was the relocation of the "Prachatici via", a trade route from Passau to Bohemia, which later became known as the Golden Path. The first mention of the settlement in 1359 already records its German name, Wallern. It probably derives from "den waldaeren" (forest dwellers), whereby in the Bavarian dialect, 'ld' changed to 'll'. Through phonetic adaptation, the Czech name emerged, first mentioned in 1444 as Wolari. Wallern soon developed into the largest center for pack animal husbandry on the Bohemian side of the Golden Path. Due to the demand for pack animals, also for the Passau salt trade, there were thirteen innkeepers and four blacksmiths here in the 16th century. Settlers from Carinthia, Styria, and Tyrol came and built their houses in the familiar alpine style as rustic log houses. In 1871, Wallern, by then also the center of a considerable timber industry, was elevated to the status of a town. Until the founding of Czechoslovakia, Volary was inhabited almost exclusively by Germans. After the end of World War II, Czechs from the interior moved to Volary, and the established German population was almost completely expelled. During the communist era, the former town of wood transformed into a garrison town for border guards. This resulted in massive negative interventions in the townscape.

The imposing building of the former elementary school (Základní Škola or ZŠ) in Volary has been empty since 2010 and has become a lost place. The building, originally erected as a boys' civic school between 1898 and 1900 in the style of Late Historicism with elements of Neo-Renaissance, stands out as a massive stone monumental building, deliberately breaking with the rural architecture of the world-famous Wallerer wooden houses in the Alpine style. The house with originally 22 classrooms is typical of the representative imperial and royal school architecture of the late Habsburg monarchy. It was intended to demonstrate state modernity and authority. Since the departure of students from grades 1 to 5 in 2010, the striking building has stood empty and unused. The elementary school operations were consolidated in a new, more modern complex.

A historic sundial adorns the southern outer wall of the Tusset Chapel (Kaple Panny Marie na Tussetu), which belongs to the parish church of St. Catherine. The chapel, originally dedicated to St. John of Nepomuk, is now called Tusset Chapel after a miraculous image from the pilgrimage chapel "Our Lady" in the nearby village of Stožec (German: Tusset) found its new home there. Incidentally, the largest sundial in Central Europe has been located in the nearby district town of Prachatice since 1969.

On the central square of Volary, this fountain with various bubbling jets provides refreshment in the summer.

The wayside shrine at the cemetery (Kaplička u hřbitova) stands at the beginning of a tree-shaded path. The niche chapel is empty, a picture of a saint is no longer present.

In the Baroque chapel in the cemetery, there is a granite tombstone from the early 18th century. In the presbytery, there is a granite memorial stone with a memorial plaque made of Solnhofen limestone, the relief depicts the Stegbauer smelting works, which was originally located west of Volary.

The Jewish Cemetery in Volary, founded in 1945 and protected as a monument since 1963, is the final resting place for women of Jewish origin who died here as victims of the Nazi regime after an exhausting death march. The cemetery, with its white granite tombstones, offers a peaceful place of remembrance and a warning of the tragedy of the war. 95 Jewish women and girls (mainly of Polish and Hungarian nationality) and one Russian prisoner of war are buried here. The original wooden crosses were replaced in 1956 by metal triangles with the names of the victims, and later the tombstones were erected, which can still be seen here today.

The statue next to the Jewish cemetery depicts the torso of a woman. It is the work of sculptor Vojtěch Pařík. It was erected here in 1975.