Zvířetice Castle

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Zvířetice Castle
The west side of the Zvířetice castle ruins with the keep

The west side of the Zvířetice castle ruins with the keep

Creation time : Beginning of the 14th century
Conservation status: ruin
Geographical location 50 ° 28 '5.2 "  N , 14 ° 54' 57.6"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 28 '5.2 "  N , 14 ° 54' 57.6"  E
Zvířetice Castle (Czech Republic)
Zvířetice Castle
Zvířetice Castle, aerial photo (2019)

The ruins of the castle Zvířetice is on the river Jizera ( Iser ) in Mladá Boleslav in the Czech Republic , 1 km from the town Bakov nad Jizerou removed.

The castle was probably built at the beginning of the 14th century. The place, not far from the old trade route from Prague to Zittau , was chosen favorably. Steep rocks offer natural protection on three sides, only the west side had to be reinforced with a ditch and a wall.

The builder of the complex was Zdislav von Lemberg , son of the canonized Zdislava . His descendants took the surname Ze Zvířetic and used the castle as their main residence until the beginning of the 16th century.

In 1504 the family seat was sold. The castle first went to Václav Sezimov z Ústí, in 1528 to the Vartemberg family and in 1610 to Jiří Vratislav z Mitrovic . He died childless six years later and bequeathed his fortune to Jan Vlk z Kvítkova. Its goods were confiscated after the uprising of the Bohemian estates 1618-1620 and bought in 1623 by Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Waldstein , who transferred the rule to distant relatives a year later. Ernst Josef von Waldstein combined Zvířetice and some surrounding estates into one large, closed property; The domicile of the lordship was the newly built Mnichovo Hradiště Castle from 1690 .

The originally Gothic castle, which was rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the second half of the 16th century , was badly damaged by two fires and was not rebuilt after the second fire in 1720. Today the facility is in ruins. The keep, which was converted into a lookout tower in the 19th century, is freely accessible.

Summer camps and open-air festivals take place regularly in Zvířetice.

See also

Web links

Commons : Zvířetice Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files