Kost Castle is a Gothic castle in

Libošovice Libošovice is a municipality and village in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Dobšice, Malá Lhota, Malechovice, Meziluží, Nepřívěc, Podkost ...

municipality in

Jičín District Jičín District ( cs, okres Jičín) is a district ('' okres'') within the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Jičín. List of municipalities Bačalky – Bašnice – Běchary – Bílsko u Hořic ...

in the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region ( cs, Královéhradecký kraj, ; pl, Kraj hradecki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec K ...

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 ...

. It lies in the nature region of

Bohemian Paradise Bohemian Paradise ( cs, Český ráj) is a Protected Landscape Area and a region in Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It was declared in 1955, as the first nature reserve in the country. At first, it was 95 square kilometres in area; today it is al ...

and is owned by Kinský dal Borgo noble family.

History and description

It was founded by Beneš von Wartenberg before 1349 as a possible construction site and was completed by his sons Peter and Marquard von Wartenberg in a high gothic style. It retains most of the original features and is overall very well preserved and maintained. The castle is known for its donjon, so-called ''Bílá věž'' ("white tower"), protected by two circles of fortress walls. In 1414 the family of Zajíc von Hasenburg moved there, because Nicolaus von Hasenburg married Skunka, a widow after Peter von Wartenberg. Later the castle was owned by families of Schellenberg (1497–1524), Biberstein (1524–1551),

Lobkowicz The House of Lobkowicz (''Lobkovicové'' in modern Czech, sg. ''z Lobkovic''; ''Lobkowitz'' in German) is a Czech noble family that dates back to the 14th century and is one of the oldest Bohemian noble families. The family also belong to the Ge ...

(till 1576) and others. During centuries some more buildings were built near the castle and joined to it. Unlike most other castles in Bohemia, it does not lie on a hill, but on a spit between two brooks. Another peculiarity is the tower, which has a trapezoid-like ground-plan. The trapezoidal tower has the corners facing the areas of most likely catapult attacks. This is to make the missiles glance off the tower walls instead of hitting it head on, thereby minimizing damage.

External links

*
Kost Castle
on private-tours.net

on interregion.cz
Virtual show

References

Cultural heritage in the Jičín District Castles in the Hradec Králové Region Museums in the Hradec Králové Region Historic house museums in the Czech Republic National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic {{CzechRepublic-castle-stub