Hazmburk (german: Hasenburg, literally "Hare Castle") is a solitary hill in the

Lower Eger Table Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eig ...

plateau with an elevation of . It is located in the municipality of

Klapý Klapý is a municipality and village in Litoměřice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Geography Klapý is located about southwest of Litoměřice and south of Ústí nad Labem Úst ...

in the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region ( cs, Ústecký kraj, , ), is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad La ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Castle

At the top of the mountain there is the ruin of a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

castle, of which two towers and some wall fragments are still standing. A smaller first castle was already built there in the late 13th century by the Lichtenburg noble family. Later, the site was home to the Zajíc family: in 1335, Zbyněk Zajíc, a powerful aristocrat during the times of Charles IV, purchased it, and made it the center of his estates. In Czech, the word zajíc means hare, so the name of castle and hill is a medieval play on the name of its most prominent owners, who even had hares in their coat of arms. Zbyněk Zajíc considerably enlarged and extended the castle, and in particular added the two prominent towers which survive to this day. The castle was never taken by force, despite multiple siege attempts during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. After these wars, it apparently fell into disuse and gradually was reduced to a ruin: records from the year 1586 already describe it as desolate. During the period of romanticism, the ruins became a source of inspiration for writers, most notably K. H. Mácha. The castle site is open to the public in summer. The taller of the two towers features an observation deck, and the view of the surrounding countryside that can be had from there is quite spectacular. The other tower is, while also in reasonable condition, not accessible to the public. {{Authority control Mountains and hills of the Czech Republic Litoměřice District