Medieval castles in Czech Republic

Prague Castle

Prague Castle, dating from the 9th century, is the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost 70,000 m2. ...
Founded: 870 AD | Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Vysehrad

Vyšehrad ('upper castle') is a historical fort built probably in the 10th century on a hill over the Vltava River. Situated within the castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, as well as the Vyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history. It also contains Prague's oldest surviving building, the Rotunda of St Martin from the 11th century. Local legend holds that Vy& ...
Founded: 10th century | Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Loket Castle

Loket Castle (Hrad Loket, Burg Elbogen) is a 12th-century Gothic style castle on a massive rock in the town of Loket. Once known as 'the Impregnable Castle of Bohemia', because of its thick walls, it is one of the oldest and most valuable historical stone castles in the Czech lands. It is administered by the Loket Castle Foundation since 1993 and preserved today as a museum and national monument. is said to hav ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Loket, Czech Republic

Karlstejn Castle

Karlštejn Castle is a large Gothic castle founded 1348 by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemia. The castle served as a place for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia as well as the Bohemian/Czech crown jewels, holy relics, and other royal treasures. It is one of the most famous and most frequently visited castles in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, the construction works were directed by the la ...
Founded: 1348 | Location: Karlštejn, Czech Republic

Spilberk Castle

For over seven centuries, Špilberk Castle has dominated the skyline of Brno. From a major royal castle and the seat of the Moravian margraves, it gradually turned into a huge baroque fortress, the heaviest prison in the Austro-Hungarian empire, and then a barracks. Today, Špilberk houses the Brno City Museum. The castle was established in the mid-13th century by Czech King Přemysl Otakar II as a seat f ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Brno, Czech Republic

Telc Castle

The Gothic castle of Telč was built in the second half of the 14th century by the lords of Hradec. At the end of the 15th century the castle fortifications were strengthened and a new gate-tower built. In the middle of the 16th century the medieval castle no longer satisfied Renaissance nobleman Zachariáš of Hradec, who had the castle altered in the Renaissance style. The ground floor was vaulted anew, ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Telč, Czech Republic

Italian Court

The Italian Court is a palace in Kutná Hora. Originally, it was the seat of the Central Mint of Prague, named after the Italian experts who were at the forefront of the minting reform. After its reconstruction at the end of the 14th century, the Italian Court became a part-time royal residence. For many centuries, the Italian Court was the centre of the state economic power: it contained the royal mint and was the resid ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Kutná Hora, Czech Republic

Pardubice Castle

The history of the feudal residence on the site of the current Pardubice castle goes back to the end of the 13th century. It underwent numerous reconstructions. The most significant took place at the end of the 15th century and beginning of the 16th century under the rule of the lords of Pernštejn. The original castle was transformed into a palace. A new, massive fortress was built around it. Thus, a combination of ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Pardubice, Czech Republic

Krivoklát Castle

Křivoklát Castle was founded in the 12th century, belonging to the kings of Bohemia. During the reign of Přemysl Otakar II a large, monumental royal castle was built, later rebuilt by king Václav IV and later enlarged by king Vladislav of Jagellon. The castle was damaged by fire several times. It was turned into a harsh prison and the building slowly deteriorated. During the 19th century, the family of Fürstenberg b ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Křivoklát, Czech Republic

Valdštejn Castle

Valdštejn Castle (Waldstein) is an early Gothic fortress near Turnov, in the Czech Republic. The city was built on three sandstone cliffs in the second half of the thirteenth century by Counts of the Waldstein family. After 1420 the castle was occupied by the Hussites, then later by robber barons. In 1621 the abandoned castle was bought back by the Waldsteins, whose most illustrious member was Albrecht von Wallenstein. D ...
Founded: 1260-1280 | Location: Turnov, Czech Republic

Melník Castle

The Mělník castle belongs to the most important sights of this town. Since Princess Ludmila, the grandmother of the Good King Wenceslas, who was born in Mělník, the castle has been the residence of the queen widows of Bohemia. Under Emperor Charles IV, Mělník became a royal town. His last wife built the chapel of the castle with its gothic vaults. The last queen who resided in Mělník, was the wife of king Jiri o ...
Founded: 1542 | Location: Mělník, Czech Republic

Cheb Castle

History of the Cheb Castle began in early 12th century, when in the place of the former Slavonic settlement the second oldest castle in our territory was built. Its following destiny is narrowly connected with the mighty imperial dynasty of the Hohenstaufs. The famous Fredrik I Barbarossa later majestically extended the castle and changed it into a sumptuous pfalz (palatinate). The torso of once majestic palace, the massi ...
Founded: 12th century | Location: Cheb, Czech Republic

Trosky Castle

Trosky Castle is located on the summits of two basalt volcanic plugs. On the lower peak, 47 metres, is the two-storey structure called Baba (Crone), and on the higher outcrop, 57 metres, is the four-sided structure known as Panna (Maiden). The castle is a landmark of the Bohemian Paradise region. The castle was established by Čeněk of Wartenberg in the second half of the 14th century. Two towers were constructed, on ...
Founded: 14th century | Location: Troskovice, Czech Republic

Olomouc Castle

The first written mention of the castle in Olomouc is included in the Cosmas Chronicle in 1055. The king Wenceslas III, the last Přemyslid, also stayed at the castle and was assassinated here in 1306. In 1767 the young Mozart stayed in the house of the Chapter Provost on the castle grounds and composed Symphony No. 6 in F major here. Some of the recent celebrities who have visited the site are Mother Theresa or Pope John ...
Founded: 11th century | Location: Olomouc, Czech Republic

Konopiste Palace

Konopiště is a palace, which become famous as the last residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination in Sarajevo triggered World War I. The bullet that killed him, fired by Gavrilo Princip, is now an exhibit at the castle"s museum. The castle was apparently established in the 1280s by Prague Bishop Tobiaš as a Gothic fortification with a ...
Founded: 1280s | Location: Benešov, Czech Republic

Cesky Sternberk Castle

Ceský Sternberk Castle is an early Gothic castle which was constructed, named and still owned by members of the same family. Today it is a residence that bears a long historical and architectural heritage and represents an attractive tourist destination open to the public. It is considered one of the best preserved Gothic Bohemian castles. The castle was initially built in 1241 by Zdeslav of Divisov, later called Zdesla ...
Founded: 1241 | Location: Český Šternberk, Czech Republic

Bouzov Castle

Bouzov Castle was established at the turn of the 14th century with the purpose to watch over the trade route from Olomouc to Loštice. The minor aristocratic Buz of Bludovec family were its first recorded owners from 1317-1339. The castle also takes its name from the family. Ownership of the castles was then changed, and the Lords of Kunštát were among the most important medieval owners. According to tradition, the Bouz ...
Founded: c. 1300 | Location: Bouzov, Czech Republic

Vranov Castle

Vranov Castle, built on the steep rock cliff high above the Jizera River at the beginning of the 15th century, was one of the last castles built in the region. At that time the design of the castle perfectly fitted the requirements for defence as the group of sandstone formations falling down the valley of the Jizera River from all sides nearly vertically was incorporated. Judging by the scratches and furrows in the rock ...
Founded: 15th century | Location: Malá Skála, Czech Republic

Bečov Castle

The Bečov medieval castle was founded in the first half of the 14th century. The first reliable reference to the castle dates back to 1349. There were several stages of the castle construction. First, the bergfried or defence tower and the residential palace were built in the place of today´s upper chateau. After 1352, the construction of the tower that was originally going to have a residential function started. Howev ...
Founded: 1320 | Location: Bečov nad Teplou, Czech Republic

Hrad Helfštýn

Helfštýn castle was probably established at the end of the 13th century by the marauding knight Friduš (or Helfrid) of Linava who used the castle as a base for robbing merchants during the unsettled times that followed the murder of Wenceslas III, the last Pøemyslide, in 1306. As Friduš"s escapades could not be ignored, young King John of Luxemburg sent his troops to deal with the bandits. Although Friduš perished, ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Lipník nad Bečvou, Czech Republic

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Spisskà Kapitula

Spišskà Kapitula, a unique fortified ecclesiastical ensemble, began as a small fortified settlement overlooking Spišské Podhradie in the 12th century. It was the site of the residence of the Provost of the castle, in the no longer extant St Martin"s monastery, and later became a capitulary. This was destroyed in by Tatars in 1241-1243, but the pilgrim"s chapel, in rotunda form and dedicated to the Virgin, survived until the 18th century and the monastery until the 15th century.

The complex of buildings there is based on the Cathedral of St Martin, where building began in 1285 as a three-aisled Romanesque basilica with a chancel at the west end and a double spire. It owes its present form to successive remodellings and additions in the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles.

The Provost's residence was completed in 1281 and further religious buildings were added. Frequent raids by marauding Bulgars and others led to its being fortified in the 14th century. The cathedral was rebuilt in the later 14th century. In 1776 it became the residence of the Bishop and four years later a seminary was established. In 1819 the first teacher training centre in Hungary was founded there.

The Bishop's Palace is largely Baroque, with some excellent interior decorations, like many of the religious buildings in the group. The oval ground plan of the centre of the town is due to its having been fortified in the 14th century. The various religious buildings had defensive functions in this early period. New monastery buildings were erected when the provost"s residence was rebuilt and the whole area fortified. The earlier central fortifications were removed in the 18th century.

Spišské Kapitula is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Levoča, Spiš Castle and the associated cultural monuments.