Vrškamýk
| Vrškamýk Castle | ||
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 View of the ruin |
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| Alternative name (s): | Kamýk, Hunec, Huneck, Kamaik | |
| Creation time : | around the end of the 10th century | |
| Castle type : | Hilltop castle | |
| Conservation status: | ruin | |
| Place: | Kamýk nad Vltavou | |
| Geographical location | 49 ° 38 '24.4 " N , 14 ° 14' 17" E | |
| Height: | 345 m nm | |
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The ruins of the castle Vrškamýk , also Kamýk or Hunec (German Huneck , also Kamaik ) is located one kilometer west of Kamýk nad Vltavou in the Dobříšská pahorkatina ( Dobrian hill country ) in the Czech Republic .
geography
The ruin of the hilltop castle lies on a strategically located narrow ridge , which was protected to the east and south by the deeply cut Vltava valley and in the north slopes down to the shallow valley of the Zduchovický creek.
Surrounding towns are Vápenice in the north, Velká and Blatnice in the northeast, Kamýk nad Vltavou in the east, Švastalova Lhota and Žebrákov in the south, Zduchovice in the west and Kaliště, Chvojná, Horní Třtí and Dolní Třtí in the north-west. The road II / 118 runs north of the castle hill between Příbram and Kamýk nad Vltavou.
history
On the ridge between the Vltava and Zduchovický potok valleys there was probably a Přemyslid guard and hunting castle since the end of the 10th century . At the eastern foot of the Kamyky castle hill, a settlement developed around the royal court at a ford on the left bank of the Vltava. The first written evidence of the castle came on June 16, 1186, when Duke Friedrich on Vrškamýk made a dedication document for the Zwettl Abbey .
King Wenceslas I had the castle expanded into a royal castle in the first half of the 13th century and in 1236 raised it to the seat of administration and court for the left-wing Moldovan part of the Bozeň region, whose territory stretched from southern Bohemia to the Brdy Forest . Wenceslaus I lived in the castle himself for a time, otherwise it was the seat of royal officials and hunters. The castle was completed under Ottokar II Přemysl , he issued three documents at the castle.
In 1325, King John of Luxembourg pledged the Kamýk Castle, including the hunting administration and some surrounding villages, to Hermann von Miličín. He died a little later and the pledge was passed on to Peter von Rosenberg . In 1335 the king redeemed the pledge. In a document dated December 27, 1336, Johann von Luxemburg recorded the duties of the 15 Kamýk feudal men . They were all crossbowmen and had to protect the castle at all times and, if the king was present, perform special services during the hunt.
In 1341 Peter von Rosenberg received Kamýk again as a pledge. Charles IV brought the estate back to the Bohemian crown in 1350. After the construction of the new Karlštejn royal castle, Kamýk castle lost its importance in 1357. The royal fiefdoms were transferred to Karlštejn and the royal hunting department moved to the Vargač castle near Dobříš . Until the end of the 14th century, the castle was the seat of a royal office, after which the estate was entrusted to Karlsteiner vassals, who exercised lower jurisdiction and administered the remaining royal property in the area.
In the 15th century, King Sigismund pledged the castle to the Popel von Lobkowicz family on Hoch-Chlumetz , and this was also retained under his successors. King Vladislav Jagiello merged the Kamýk with the Frauenberg lordship and pledged it in 1490 to Wilhelm von Pernstein , who left it to his youngest son Vojtěch in 1514 . After his death in 1534 his brother Johann inherited the property, he left it to his cousin Andreas Ungnad von Sonegg . The disgrace of Sonegg ruined the Frauenberg dominion. King Ferdinand I bought back the heavily indebted rule in 1561 and inherited it the following year to Joachim von Neuhaus . His son Adam sold the Kamýk estate to Jan Vojkovský of Milhostice in 1569, and the castle was described as desolate.
Recent archaeological investigations came to the conclusion that the castle was abandoned shortly after 1306 due to static problems with the outer wall of the rear castle. This may also have been the reason for the pledge.
investment
The castle consisted of two parts. The front part probably only consisted of an elongated building that was laterally connected to a square gate tower. A wide ditch separated it from the rear castle. In the long, narrow, three-winged inner courtyard of the Vorderburg, which was surrounded on three sides by at least one-story residential buildings and on the fourth side by the gate tower, a wide passage with seating niches and cross vaults led into the ground floor of the tower. With the exception of a cross-vaulted room on the first floor of the short wing, which may have been the castle chapel, all other rooms had flat ceilings. On the first floor, pawlats led around the inner courtyard. In the better preserved south wing, the imprints of two timbered chambers can still be seen on this floor. The rooms of the castle were heated with hot air. The walls facing the inner courtyard and some partition walls have been preserved from the palace wing . In addition, the core of the gate tower, remains of the gate to the outer bailey, a round wall and trenches have been preserved.
The castle, which was neglected for a long time, is now one of the most important buildings of the last Přemyslids. Today it is regarded as a representative building of a castle complex with peripheral buildings with extremely long and narrow sides, which was built under similar conditions as the Bezděz Castle, which was built a little later .
The complex has been protected as a cultural monument since 1958. Archaeological investigations of the castle area began in 2002, during which the ruins were not accessible. After completing the investigations in 2009, the ruins were secured and reconstructed. A playground and a lookout tower were built on the hiking trail to Kamýk nad Vltavou east of the castle complex.
Knight Hunec
The legend of the knight Hunec is associated with the ruins. Hunec, who administered the Vrškamýk Castle, soon became notorious for cruelty towards his subjects. During a hunt near Zduchovice in the Jezerná forest, he was attacked, robbed and killed. A chapel was later built on the site on the Jezerná hill, of which only the remains of the walls have survived. His ghost is said to haunt the ruins at night.
Web links
- Description on hrady.cz
- Legend of the knight Hunec
- History of the castle and the town of Kamýk
- Cultural monument 17143 / 2-2443