Bezděz Castle

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Bezděz Castle

Bezděz Castle (Czech: Hrad Bezděz) is a Gothic castle located some 20 km southeast of Česká Lípa, Czech Republic. It was built in 1264-1278 by order of Přemysl Otakar II.

The royal castle of Bezděz is one of the most important Gothic castles in the Czech lands. Erected on the phonolite hill of Velký Bezděz in 1260-80, it became the characteristic dominant feature of the local landscape and met the demands for an inaccessible as well as respectable royal castle.

A year after Přemysl’s death, Bezděz became the place of imprisonment of Queen Kunhuta and her underage son Václav II, kept under lock and key in very spartan conditions by Otto Margrave of Brandenburg after the Battle on the Marchfeld. The boy, only 6 or 7 at the time, remained there alone when his mother escaped under a pretext and it is widely accepted that the place left its mark on him. As an adult, and ruling monarch, he returned to Bezděz to order the construction of a chapel, one of the best preserved areas of the castle today. Albrecht of Wallenstein later turned the castle into a monastery for the Benedictines from Monserrat, who brought a copy of the Madonna of Moserrat (the Black Madonna) in 1666, making the castle a pilgrimage site for years to come. It was finally abandoned in the 18th century.

Parts that are accessible to visitors are the castle precincts including the royal palace, burgrave's house and the unique early Gothic Chapel. The castle tower offers a stunning view of the surrounding landscape. The castle’s romantic silhouette has attracted a number of artists, including the poet Karel Hynek Mácha. The nearby pleasure lake, dominated by the silhouette of the castle, bears his name, Lake Mácha (Czech: Máchovo jezero).