Žebrák Castle is a castle ruin in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is located in the municipality of Točník in the Beroun District, near the eponymous town of Žebrák. It was built by the Zajíc family. The two castles, Točník and Žebrák, make up a picturesque couple, standing almost right next to each other. Together they are protected as one national cultural monument.
The castle was built in the second half of the 13th century by Oldřich Zajíc III, but the Zajíc family soon moved elsewhere and sold the castle to the king. In 1336, the House of Luxembourg acquired Žebrák and in 1346, John Henry started renovating it. He later gave the castle to Charles IV, who became the Holy Roman Emperor shortly afterwards. Charles' son Wenceslaus IV liked the castle very much, but after the large fire in 1395, he built a more strategically positioned castle above it. During the Hussite Wars, the Hussite army unsuccessfully besieged Žebrák and Točník and then proceeded to burn down the towns Točník and Hořovice. In 1532, another fire struck the castle, but this time, nobody bothered renovating it. In the year 1923, the castle was sold to the Czech Association of Tourists and now it belongs to the state.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.