Hrad Trosky
About the location
The ruins of Trosky Castle have an unmistakable silhouette visible from afar. It is a natural symbol of the tourist area and the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area, on the eastern edge of which it lies.
The monumental ruin is a dominant feature of the surrounding area and one of the most visited castles in the Czech Republic. The unique atmosphere is created by the very location of the castle – on a high hill, which was once a volcano in the Tertiary period, and whose two fossilized lava vents created a protected area for the castle. Thanks to these natural conditions, it was never conquered during the Hussite Wars.
A bit of history
The castle was built by Čeněk of Vartenberk in the 14th century. The inner castle, with residential palaces, stood on the ridge between the two peaks, which were crowned with defensive and residential towers. The taller tower, known as Panna (The Maiden in Czech), supposedly included a chapel.
The castle changed hands many times, with one of its owners being King Wenceslas IV. Čeněk of Vartenberk, the founder of the castle, ceded it to Wenceslas IV as payment for his debts. During the 15th century, the castle was taken over by the Bergov family, but it was soon seized by the infamous robber knight Christoph Šoff of Helfenberg and his accomplice Švejkar. With a garrison of 200 men, they defended the castle against state forces and terrorized the surrounding area for six years before they were defeated by the armies of Zgorzelec and Zittau.
In the 16th century the Smiřič family bought the castle. Although their era was a time of prosperity for the whole region, peace and tranquillity, the glory of Trosky Castle ended definitively during their reign, as they chose the comfortable Skála Castle (today Hrubá Skála) as their residence. During the Thirty Years’ War, Albrecht of Wallenstein was the owner of the estate and it remained in the family’s possession until the 19th century, when it was bought by Jan Lexa of Aehrenthal – a businessman who, along with the Trosky, Hrubá Skála and Wallenstein estates, also bought the titles of count and knight. He rescued, repaired and, under the influence of the then popular Romanticism, modified many monuments on his estate, but not always sensitively. The castle became the property of the Czechoslovak state in 1925 and remains in its possession to this day.
The mysterious underground
Throughout the castle’s existence, it has been accompanied by legends of a vast underground, which is said to hide an underground lake and, of course, treasure. The entire hill is supposed to be interwoven with a labyrinth of passages, which would be used for supply or escape in the event of a siege.
