One of the most important Gothic castles in Bohemia built by Přemysl Otakar II in 1264-78. In 1279, King Wenceslas II and his mother Kunhuta were imprisoned here. In 1350, Charles IV issued a ban on separating the castle from the royal estates, but this was already violated by his son Wenceslas IV. After the Battle of White Mountain, the castle was owned by Albrecht of Wallenstein, who rebuilt it into a monastery, then occupied by the Swedes and from 1662 until the abolition of the monastery by Joseph II, several monks lived here. From the exposition, for example: the Devil’s and the Great Tower, the castle palace with an early Gothic chapel, the burgrave’s building, the remains of the Baroque Stations of the Cross chapels on the access road, etc.
The royal castle of Bezděz is undoubtedly one of our most famous and popular castles. The characteristic silhouette of the castle with two towers on the higher of the two bell-shaped cones (604 and 577 m above sea level), which significantly exceed the surrounding landscape, forms an unforgettable landmark of the region.
The castle, mainly due to its difficult accessibility, avoided the fate that befell many other castles in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. For most visitors, it represents a classic medieval castle, as it has been preserved in its original Gothic form to this day without major reconstructions. As a massive royal castle outpost on the edge of the border forest, Bezděz was considered a symbol of Czech statehood. In our more recent history, it is inextricably linked with the peaks of literary, artistic and musical culture, as well as with political and social efforts during the Austro-Hungarian period. It was therefore only an acceptance of general awareness if Bezděz was declared a national cultural monument by the state.
