Trosky Castle ( cs, Hrad Trosky) is a castle ruin in the municipality of Troskovice in the

Liberec Region Liberec Region ( cs, Liberecký kraj, german: Reichenberger Region, pl, Kraj liberecki) is an administrative unit (Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after i ...

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 about south of

Semily Semily (; german: Semil) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts of Bítouchov and Podmoklice and the village of Spálov are administrative parts of Semily. Geogra ...

. It is located on the summits of two basalt

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged mag ...

s. On the lower peak, , is the two-storey structure called ''Baba'' (Crone), and on the higher outcrop, , is the four-sided structure known as ''Panna'' (Maiden). The castle is a landmark of the

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 a ...

region.

History

The castle was established by Čeněk of Wartenberg in the second half of the 14th century.Tomaš Ehrenberger, ''The 88 Most Beautiful Castles'', pg. 133, Kartografie Praha a.s., Two towers were constructed, one on top of each rock, and various residential buildings and outhouses were erected between them. Three rings of fortified walls protected the complex. After Čeněk's death the castle came into the possession of King

Wenceslaus IV Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he w ...

, from whom it was acquired by

Otto III of Bergau }; died 1414), also known as Otto the Elder of Bergau, was a Bohemian nobleman, high-ranking provincial official, and political opponent of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Biography Otto was the son of Albert of Bergov, and he inherited the castles of ...

. Though Otto IV of Bergau was a zealous

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, it did not stop him raiding the monastery in Opatovice and stealing its famous treasure, which he is said to have hidden in Trosky Castle, supposedly in an underground cellar blocked by a huge boulder.Petr David, Vladimír Soukup, Lubomír Čech, ''Wonders of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia'', pg. 57, Euromedia Group (2004), No one could move the boulder, which was eventually covered by

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

, permanently cutting off the way to the precious objects. 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 ...

Trosky was a centre of the pro-Catholic sides. It is therefore not surprising that in all probability the castle was never completely conquered by the

Hussites The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

or any other enemies. As late as 1428, shortly after the castle burned down, it was under siege by Jan Královec, captain of the

Taborites The Taborites ( cs, Táborité, cs, singular Táborita), known by their enemies as the Picards, were a faction within the Hussite movement in the medieval Lands of the Bohemian Crown. Although most of the Taborites were of rural origin, they ...

Army. From 1438 onwards the robber knight Kryštov Šov of Helfenburg and his companion Švejkar settled in it to tyrannize the villagers in the surrounding countryside, before the people of

Görlitz Görlitz (; pl, Zgorzelec, hsb, Zhorjelc, cz, Zhořelec, :de:Ostlausitzer Mundart, East Lusatian dialect: ''Gerlz'', ''Gerltz'', ''Gerltsch'') is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is located on the Lusatian Neisse River, and ...

and

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, :de:Oberlausitzer Mundart, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic languages, Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto' ...

, members of the

Lusatian League The Lusatian League (german: Oberlausitzer Sechsstädtebund; cs, Šestiměstí; pl, Związek Sześciu Miast) was a historical alliance of six towns in the Bohemian (1346–1635), later Saxon (1635–1815) region of Upper Lusatia, that existed fr ...

, banded together to capture them. Margareth of Bergau, the widow of the original owner Otto of Bergau, made Trosky into her residence by 1444. In 1468 the castle was property of William of Hasenburg who kept it until 1497. After that several noble families owned the castle, although its significance declined. In 1648, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

, it was burned down completely by the Imperial Army and left in ruins. In 1681 the enlightened Jesuit

Bohuslav Balbín Bohuslav Balbín (3 December 1621 Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz) – 29 November 1688 Prague) was a Czech writer, historian, geographer and Jesuit, called the "Czech Pliny". He became well known also as an advocate of the Czech language i ...

visited it; possibly the first documented example of a trip, the sole purpose of which was to research a historical site or area. In the 19th century a greater degree of interest was shown and romantic modifications were made to the ruins of the castle. It was decided to create a staircase leading to the Panna tower. Work has begun in 1841–43, but was not completed.

Gallery

References

External links

Hrad Trosky

{{Authority control Semily District Volcanoes of the Czech Republic Volcanic plugs of Europe Castles in the Liberec Region Tourist attractions in the Liberec Region National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic Ruined castles in the Czech Republic