Bítov Castle

Bítov, Czech Republic

Bítov Castle is located on a steep promotory towering above the meandering River Želetavka. Built in the 11th century, Bítov is one of the oldest and largest Moravian castles.

A Přemyslid fortified settlement originally stood on the site and included the Chapel of Our Lady. The fort was rebuilt in the first half of the 13th century as an impregnable Gothic castle guarding the southern boundaries of the Přemyslid lands. In the 14th century a new inner ward was built along with Late Gothic fortifications. The Lords of Bítov became the new owners of the castle and based themselves here for four centuries. They carried out further improvements to the defensive capabilities of the castle.

Bítov finally underwent Baroque remodelling, and gained its present form at the beginning of the 19th century, when it passed into the hands of the Counts of Daun. The descendants of Marshal Daun, the famous military leader, rebuilt the castle in the spirit of the Romantic style. Between 1811 and 1845 the richly-decorated state rooms were created, on the basis of proposals of Anton Schuler. The culmination of the re-Gothicising work was the remodelling of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin by Viennense architect Anton Rucker, who left the original Gothic furnishings. At the end of the 20th century, Bítov underwent extensive refurbishment.

The structural arrangement of the castle through remodelling, which was carried out several times later on, is an example of the Czech Early Gothic castle architecture. The arrangement is highly intricate and leads in one direction towards the front moat, to which both the wedge-shaped round towers pointed. The outer tower, above the moat, was later merged with the body of the castle, while the other tower stands alone at the rear of the inner court.

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Bítov, Czech Republic
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Details

Founded: 11th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in Czech Republic

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Mark T (6 months ago)
I just walked around it as it was closed. Very cool area, just for a walk
Joe Lobotka (15 months ago)
A monumental castle decorating the picturesque Dyje river and sorrounding valleys. You can spot the castle from the main road heading towards Bitov village and the Podyji National Park. However, to get here, you can either park near Bitov campsite and take the longer route (45-60 mins) or get closer and park at the official parking and walk on the tarmac only about 15 minutes. To get to the castle, you need to pay an entry fee ranging from 50-200 CZK for an adult, depending on what you want to see. The basic entry is enough to walk around the courtyard, visit the gardens (including a little zoo), inside of a church, various small galleries or grab a snack in a castle's café. Well enough for an hour or two. I personally liked it, but there were a lot of people even in May, so I'd advise to visit outside of summer.
Halyna Makshanova (15 months ago)
Great place!Very atmospheric!must visit there!
Hynek (16 months ago)
Well.. Bit disappointed to be honest. Compared to Vranov castle this was bit... Artifical, not do interesting and less exciting. But.. It's not a trouble, just there are large competition and it seems that Bítov is kind of lacking it differention edge
Linda S. (2 years ago)
I've visited the castle on several occasions. It's surrounding is an absolute gem of nature and the castle is magnificent and well taken care of.
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