CASTLES & CHATEAUX

2000 castles, chateaux, fortresses and ruins

The number of historical monuments in Czechia is simply dazzling. Over the last 1000 years noblemen and landowners have built numerous castles and chateaux. Today, more than 2000 castles in Czechia have survived the test of time.

The Czech people have always taken great pride in maintaining and preserving these witnesses of the past. Consequently, first time visitors are often very much surprised, not only by the abundance of the castles, but also by their state of preservation, how impressively they are set in the surrounding landscape, the wonderful and varied design and architecture of the buildings and not in the least by their excellent operation.

So the pleasure is all yours to climb defense towers and enjoy the wonderful view of the surrounding countryside, to find your way out of the mysterious labyrinths of subterranean corridors and to walk in perfectly groomed castle gardens.

Are you ready to unleash the medieval knight in you?

Karlštejn castle - © Ladislav Renner
Hluboká nad Vltavou chateau - © Ladislav Renner
Bouzov castle - © Jaromir Kavan
Kokorin castle - © Jan Sovka

The most impressive chateaux & castles in Czechia

A lively heritage

Czech castles and chateaux are much more than just dusty and sleepy museums. They are very much alive and it’s thus very easy to imagine yourself living in medieval times.

Most of the castles offer historical festivals and markets, night-time tours, costumed guides, displays of trained birds of prey, demonstrations of ancient crafts, and tastings of traditional Czech delicacies, as well as theatre and opera performances, fencing matches, concerts, art festivals, exhibitions and workshops.

And why not take it a step further? Almost all of these monuments rent out their most attractive historical rooms for special occasions. If you want a stunning setting to say ‘yes’ to the love of your life, don’t look any further.

Did you know?

The castle of Bítov used to have one of the largest private zoos in Europe. In addition to live animals, the somewhat eccentric Baron Haas also loved his collections of taxidermied domestic and exotic animals. Today the collection is listed in Guinness World Records as the largest of its kind in the world.

The legendary King Charles IV liked to stay at Loket castle, especially for hunting. It is said that while on a hunt his retinue discovered a hot spring which healed the king’s ailing leg. At the site of the miraculous spring Charles IV founded the town of Teplé lázně, today’s Karlovy Vary.

The castle of Zvíkov was never conquered, not even in medieval times or during the Thirty Years’ War. This was mainly because of its defensively ideal peninsula location and its tower’s 3-metre-thick walls made of blocks of black stone. But some say that it’s the mysterious protective symbols that are carved in the bottom eleven rows of the tower’s stone blocks that kept the castle out of harm’s way. Although they do resemble runes, historians claim that they are the marks of the stonemasons who worked on the royal buildings. But who knows for sure?

Loket castle - © Ladislav Renner
Zvíkov castle - © Libor Sváček
Křivoklát castle - © Ladislav Renner
Bítov castle - © Ladislav Renner

Start planning your castles in Czechia holiday now!

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