It is located on the western edge of the Bohemian Paradise above the village of Boseň. The name of the castle is of Slavic origin. It lies on three rocks and was partially carved into the rock massif. It is not known exactly when it was built. The first mentions of it are from the 2nd half of the 13th century. Originally, the castle was made of wood, and it was not until the 14th century that a massive brick palace was built here. In the times of its greatest glory, the castle had the reputation of an impregnable fortress.

Around the castle there is the so-called Valečov Rock Rooms. Valečov Rock Rooms, which became a refuge for poor serfs. It is an extraordinary Czech rarity. The rooms carved into the rocks were probably built in the Middle Ages. Some served as dwellings for servants and domestic animals, others were craft workshops , and others were used to bake bread. The last inhabitants were the “rocks”, who still lived here at the end of the 19th century. At the end of 1892, however, they were forcibly expelled and accommodated in two municipal poorhouses in Bosnia. Today, tramps and romantics sleep in the rooms, who cannot praise the night in the rocks enough. This castle was also visited by the famous Czech poet Karel Hynek Mácha.

Originally a Gothic castle from the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, it was later rebuilt into a Renaissance chateau. In 1830 , however, it burned down and fell into disrepair. Throughout the 20th century, repairs were carried out here, thanks to which the entire western palace and the extensive cellar are now accessible – in two sightseeing routes .
 The most famous owner of Pecka was the traveler, writer and composer Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice. However, Pecka was also owned by other important personalities, such as the lords of Rožmitál (brothers-in-law of Jiří of Poděbrady), the highest scribe of the Kingdom of Bohemia Mikuláš Hořický of Hořice (beginning of the 16th century). After Harant’s death, Albrecht of Wallenstein was also briefly owned.
At present, the castle offers two sightseeing routes, it is the venue for cultural and social events, including regular exhibitions of modern art.

Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice was a courtier and diplomat, author of travelogues, musician.

Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice came from an old, wealthy aristocratic family. His father held various positions in provincial offices. Kryštof Harant received a careful upbringing, partly from a home teacher, partly at a school in Pilsen.

From the age of twelve, Christopher Harant was brought up in Innsbruck at the court of Archduke Ferdinand II. Tyrol, later Emperor, where he came in 1576 at the request of his father. He learned Latin, Greek, Italian and German. He deepened his knowledge of geography, history, music and painting. He was also initiated into the secrets of politics, he also devoted himself to theology and natural sciences.

His social life, contacts with foreign guests and trips to Italy, on which he accompanied Ferdinand, laid the foundation for Harant’s passion for travel.

After returning to his homeland, probably after his father’s death, Kryštof Harant took over the administration of the family estates. In the years 1594 – 97 he took part in the anti-Turkish military campaign. Upon his return, his mother died and he together with his brother-in-law, the knight Heřman Černín of Chudenice , set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The journey led through Bavaria and Tyrol, to Italy, then to Crete, Cyprus, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and Egypt.

After his return in the autumn of 1599, Kryštof Harant stayed alternately at the Bělá fortress and in Pilsen, where he personally met Emperor Rudolf II. In 1600, Kryštof Harant was summoned to the Prague court, where he held high state functions and was promoted to the nobility.

The court environment was also conducive to the development of Harant’s composing art. After the death of Rudolf II, Kryštof Harant worked briefly in the service of the Matthias family.

In the years 1614 – 15, Christopher Harant was sent with a diplomatic message, from the then deceased Rudolf II, to Spain. It was the Order of the Golden Fleece and was received at the Spanish court by Margaret of Austria, the wife of the Spanish King Philip III. He allegedly described his journey through Western Europe – Germany, the Netherlands and France – in a German travelogue, the manuscript of which has not been preserved.

After returning to Bohemia, Kryštof Harant left the Habsburg service. He lived in Pecka Castle, which he acquired in 1603 by his second marriage to Anna Saloména Hradišťská. He devoted himself to farming, literature and especially music.

Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice took part in the uprising of the estates and Frederick of the Palatinate appointed him privy councillor and president of the Czech Chamber. In the persecution after the White Mountain , Kryštof Harant was deprived of his property and executed on June 21, 1621 on the Old Town Square in Prague.

The work of Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice:

A journey from the Kingdom of Bohemia to Venice, from there by sea to the Holy Land, the Land of Judea and further to Egypt and the great city of Cairo, then to Mount Oreb, Sinai and St. Catherine. Catherine, located in barren Arabia – published in 1608, travelogue. The first part follows the journey to Jerusalem, the second its conclusion. The book shows how thoroughly Kryštof Harant prepared for the journey, as he comments on the encounter with places related to ancient culture very extensively. The author is a witty judge and a good observer. The whole travelogue is accompanied by one hundred and fifty of his own drawings.

As a composer, Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice is one of the representatives of Czech Renaissance music.

The long history of Cheb Castle began at the beginning of the 12th century. Its history is connected, among other things, with the powerful Staufen family, from which a number of Roman-German kings and emperors emerged. It was one of them, the famous Friedrich Barbarossa, who had the original building rebuilt into an imperial palatine at the end of the 12th century, the only representative of this type of castle architecture in our territory. To this day, the torso of the once magnificent palace, the mighty defensive Black Tower and, above all, the unique double Romanesque-Gothic chapel of St. Martin, Erhard and Ursula have been preserved.

Friedrich Barbarossa visited the castle repeatedly in person, held imperial assemblies here and even stayed here shortly before leaving for the Third Crusade, during which he met an unexpected death in the rapid flow of the Salef River. However, Friedrich was not the only ruling head who was hosted by the cozy chambers of Cheb Castle. He was also visited by the “Father of the Fatherland” Charles IV and the Hussite King George of Poděbrady. The castle also experienced difficult and turbulent times, a number of wars and conquests. Hussite chariots rattled around it, during the Thirty Years’ War mercenaries in Swedish service ravaged with weapons, and in the 40s of the 18th century, it was plundered with fire and sword by the troops of the French king Louis XV, who fought with the only woman on the Czech throne, the indomitable Maria Theresa. Every good castle has its own ghost, and it is no different at Cheb Castle, where the last faithful companions of Albrecht of Wallenstein, who fell victim to the murderous rampage in the early evening of February 25, 1634, have been struggling for several centuries. The castle underwent its last development phase at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, when it was partially rebuilt into a Baroque fortress citadel.

John’s Castle is part of the Lednice-Valtice Area. It  covers an area of 2,200  hectares. In December 1996 , the area was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a cultural landscape.

John’s Castle was built near the hunting lodge, on a place surrounded on three sides by the Dyje River. It served as a hunting lodge – a gathering place for the manor before the hunt, a place where the last hunts were held. After the hunts, rich feasts were held here, at which the King of the Hunt was announced. The building also served as a dwelling for the prince’s gamekeeper.

The construction according to the design of Joseph Hardtmuth was started in 1801 by Alois I. Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, but he died in 1805 and the construction was completed by his brother Johann I. Joseph, Prince of Liechtenstein, who was three years younger.

John’s Castle was originally designed much more generously, but at the request of the prince, the project was reduced. The building consists of four corner towers – each of them on a different ground plan. The towers are connected on three sides only by perimeter walls, which on the outside support the galleries of the first floor. The fourth side of the courtyard is closed by the chateau building itself. 
On the 1st floor there is a large Knight’s Hall, where feasts and hunting festivals were held. There are lounges in the towers. Only the south tower also has a second floor with a balcony, from which you can walk through the gallery of the second floor to the west tower. The third floor then consists of a lookout point at the top of the south tower.

The unstable subsoil of the floodplain forest had to be strengthened with wooden beams, and a building was then built on it from stones brought from the nearby Great Moravian fortified settlement of Pohansko. In an effort to build a realistic imitation of a real castle, the architect paid attention to every detail, for example, he made three spiral oak staircases right-handed, according to the custom in old castles.