Golden Trail over the Land of Castles | Central Bohemian Uplands

The Central Bohemian Uplands are surely a region with a unique atmosphere of beautiful nature, high basalt mounds and - above all - the land of castle ruins that crown these magnificant peaks. And those wonderful views of the region… you will love them! You will not see anything similar in the Czech lands. Moreover, few people realize that the Central Bohemian Uplands is the place where the oldest Czech legends take place and that it is also the only region where the invincible Czech military leader Jan Žižka from Trocnov imprinted his strategic genius on his own castle - Kalich.

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In 1370 Kostomlaty belonged to the Žerotín family, in 1388 it was bought by the Škopkas of Dubá. During the Hussite wars, the Škopeks stood firmly on the Catholic side (Albrecht Škopek of Dubé even held the position of commander of the Order of German Knights in the Czech province). In 1435, the castle was taken away from the Škopeks by the Hussite governor Jakoubek of Vřesovice, who thus laid the foundation of the Kostomlatský of Vřesovice family branch. In the 16th century Kostomlatský castle gradually lost its importance, so that in 1606 it was no longer inhabited. In 1841, an inn was established on the castle site, which existed well into the 20th century. Kostomlaty Castle was in two parts. The trapezoidal forecourt, which was encircled by a parkland, was entered on the north-west through a gate guarded by a cylindrical tower. We do not know for sure what was built on the front of the castle, because the terrain of the north-western wall was changed by the construction of a modern inn. The castle core above has undergone a complex development, in which we can observe a gradual increase in the perimeter buildings. The oldest buildings include the castle's dominant cylindrical tower. The design of the upper part of the tower refers to the so-called "butter towers", less common in the Czech environment. In the first half of the 15th century, the defensibility of the core was improved by two prismatic bastions.

Article from the newspaper

The castle, founded before 1333 by the Lords of Osek, became the cradle of the famous Kostomlatsky family of Vřesovice in 1435. Despite attempts to adapt it to the growing demands of the nobility, it was eventually abandoned in the 16th century, but was later partially revived in the Romantic era with the building of an inn. The picturesque ruin with its distinctive brick architecture was chosen by director Zdeněk Troška in 2008 for the filming of the fairy tale The Most Beautiful Riddle. Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou (green TZ)

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Galerie - Kostomlaty