The Švihov Castle (german: ''Burg Schwihau'') is a water castle, which was built in the Gothic period. It is located in the town Švihov in the

Plzeň Region Plzeň Region ( cs, Plzeňský kraj; german: Pilsner Region) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň (English, german: Pilsen). In terms of area, Plzeň Reg ...

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 ...

History

Švihov

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

was built by the House of Rýzmberk ze Skály (noble family). It was besieged 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 ...

during

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 ...

, the garrison surrendered after their water

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

s were siphoned. It was rebuilt between 1480 and 1489 by the order of the castle's owner, Puta Schwihau von Riesenberg, in the Late Gothic style. His sons continued in rebuilding the castle after he died and invited a famous architect Benedikt Reid. In 1598 Kavkové z Říčan (noble family) took the control of the castle, but were forced to sell it to Czernins of Chudenitz 50 years later in 1598, due to their poor management. Then 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 ...

came and the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by the Swedish army. Benedikt Reid invented the castle's moat system with massive

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s (horseshoe shaped ground plans opened into the

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

). He finished his works until 1520. He used the same system when he designed the

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

of one of the largest castles in Bohemia called

Rabí Rabí (german: Rabi) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. It is known for ruins of the Rabí Castle, one of the biggest castles in the country. The town centre is well preserved and ...

. After the war, Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III. ordered the demolition of the castle, possibly out of fear for it being an "unconquerable fort of anti-Habsburg resistance". Luckily, thanks to constant postponing of the demolition, only a part of

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

was damaged. Castle palaces,

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

and other parts of the bastion were used as a

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animal ...

, devaluating the whole complex, yet protecting it from being rebuilt. The castle stayed in Czernin's hands until the nationalization in 1945.

Architecture

The castle consists of two residential palaces, five-level entrance tower and a chapel built on top of the bastion. Only small parts of the rampart remained undamaged with four bastions -

The Red Bastion ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

The White Bastion ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

The Green Bastion ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and

The Gold Bastion ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(whose remains were discovered in 1951). There were two water moats around the castle. The inner moat was placed where today's inner courtyard is and the outer moat was between the inner and outer rampart (of which a part is still standing). If needed, the moats could be filled with water from three nearby ponds. The castle's interior consists of typical late Gothic and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

furnishings: furniture, rich

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Tapestry is weft-faced weaving, in which all the warp threads are hidden in the completed work, unlike most woven textiles, where both the warp and the weft threads may ...

, pewter and copper kitchenware, weapons and arms. Valuable wall paintings from the 16th century can be found in The Red Bastion, the chapel and in other rooms. Open to public are the castle's armory, the kitchen (with original furnishings that originate mainly from the 18th century), the feast hall, the chapel, the bed chambers and The Great Hall with wooden

cassette ceiling Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...

that originates from

Dobrovice Castle Dobrovice is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,500 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Bojetice, Chloumek, Holé Vrchy, Libichov, Sýčina, Týnec and Úherce are admi ...

The castle's chapel was built between 1480 and 1489 by Půta von Schwihau The exterior of the chapel remained mostly undamaged, the interior in the other hand was until its reconstruction in 1890. The stairs leading to the chapel were destroyed as well. The entrance hall has a net vault, it's ribs lean onto decorated consoles and converge into one paint keystone. The nave of the chapel is also vaulted, but all four ribs were rough-hewed for unknown reasons. File:Hrad Švihov od východu.jpg, Švihov Castle, east view File:Hrad Švihov 1.jpg, Švihov Castle's entrance tower File:Vodní Hrad Švihov - Water Castle Svihov - panoramio (2).jpg, File:Kaple hradu Švihov.JPG, Interior - chapel File:Svihov kaple.jpg, Exterior File:Zimní pozdní odpoledne u hradu Švihov.jpg, Švihov Castle File:Hrad Švihov od hradního mlýna.jpg, Švihov Castle File:BurgSvihov.jpg,

References

* * *ZÁRUBA, František. Hradní kaple III. Doba poděbradská a jagellonská (1.vydání), Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2016, 304 s. *KALINA, Pavel. Benedikt Reid a počátky zaalpské renesance. Academia, 2009, 300 s. {{DEFAULTSORT:Švihov Castle Gothic architecture in the Czech Republic Castles in the Czech Republic Renaissance architecture in the Czech Republic Water castles National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic