Travel adventures - Křivoklát
Czech Republic has so many castles and we wanted to explore as many of them as possible during our short visit. We focused on the castles around Prague so that we wouldn't need to drive for a half of day to get to our destination. Many of them were closed for the winter period but we were lucky to find a few interesting ones that we could enter.
One of them is Křivoklát castle (Hrad Křivoklát) ..
You can get to the castle from different starting points and we chose the easiest one as it was quite cold and raining. What does that mean? It means that we had to walk around 200 meters from the parking space to the castle 😊
Křivoklát is located in central Bohemia, about 1 hour drive from Prague. You're supposed to get nice views from the road but we only saw the road as it was foggy all the way to the castle. However, we didn't let the weather ruin our day.
After we arrived to the castle we purchased our tickets. The entrance fee is CZK 400 (around 18 USD)
Unfortunately we didn't know that the guided excursions are only every few hours, and we had more than an hour before it was supposed to start. There is not much to do when it's raining outside so we went for lunch to a nearby restaurant. They didn't have any vegan meals but were creative and made us some grilled vegetables with baked potatoes. It wasn't that bad at all..
After lunch we returned to the castle right on time. We were greeted by our guide and our excursion could start..
Křivoklát is one of the oldest and most important castles in Czech Republic. Its origins date back to the beginning of the 12th century.
The roots of the Czech name " Křivoklát" have a connection to the old word for pine scrub.
It was originally built as a wooden hunting castle by the aristocracy as it's located deep in the forest with wild animals. Přemysl Otakar II called 'iron and golden' rebuilt the castle between 1230 and 1240 and created a monumental residence for Czech kings and princes. There were a few additional reconstructions and enlargements to emphasize royal presence at that time.
Before the Czechoslovak state bought the castle in 1920's, it had belonged to the aristocratic Fürstenberg kin. During that time the Křivoklát region had flourished.
Our excursion started behind the gates of the main building. From there we could see the entire castle. We spent there a few minutes listening to the stories of our guide.
The castle was damaged by fire several times. The fire caused severe damages and as there were no funds available to restore the castle, it was turned into a notorious state prison.
If you look at the picture on the right, you will see a tower in the back. The door that you can see was made in the 19th century. There is an opening in the middle of the tower. This was the entrance before the great fire in 1826. Between these two entrances there is a space that was only accessible through a hole in the floor. This space was used as prison for those sentenced to death.
Prisoners would have to enter this closed space through that hole. They were left there without food or water until they passed away. It was not known how many people died there until the door was made through 2 meters thick wall. The remains of 6 people were found there...
After the great fire, Fürstenberg built the castle from the ruins and returned it to its former glory. During the excursion we will visit the Great Hall and the Knight's Hall as well. We will enter this part of the castle through a long staircase and the corridor that you can see here.
Here are some views of the castle from the corridor...
Let's enter the castle now
There is a small replica of the castle showing how it looked like before the great fire in 1826. Many wooden details and small towers were destroyed and never rebuilt.
The Great Hall is the second-largest late Gothic Hall in central Europe.
One side of the hall is dominated by a large table. It was used by visitors when they were waiting for a king to accept their visit..
Because this is the royal hall there has to be a throne, although this is just a replica.
Many consequential political talks and fateful diplomatic negotiations were held in this room. During the audience the throne was placed in the corner and the king sat there with his back to the light. The visitors couldn't see his face because he was something more than them and he ruled over them so why would they have to see his face?.
The royal part of the castle also contains a large library built by Fürstenberg. It has more than 50000 precious illuminated manuscripts, ornamented prints and rare dissertations. This is the true heart of Křivoklát for me.
Some of the books written in German, Italian, French, Latin and other languages have golden spines. Fürstenberg spoke many languages and they enjoyed reading books. There are just a few of them written in Czech.
A part of the exhibition is dedicated to a collection of original Baroque and Rococo royal wooden sleighs with rich ornaments. This was probably my favorite part as I haven't seen such sleighs before.
Křivoklát is the second most visited castle in Czech Republic and it also hosts various celebrations and events such as concerts or performances.
If you are interested in history and you happen to be in Czech Republic, you should definitely find some time and visit Křivoklát. It is worth it!
Thank you for reading,
Cheers,
Martina
ǝɹǝɥ sɐʍ ɹoʇɐɹnƆ pɐW ǝɥ┴
It's a pleasure to see you here :)
so very cool Martina... I love these castles and the way you present the stories. You do more than just take great pictures, you make us feel as if we are there :) ... thank you for another wonderful post!
That is such a nice compliment Dave! And it feels very good to have you over here ;)
These are some pretty cool castles that you keep posting from the Czech Republic! This one reminded me a bit of what I would imagine Rapunzul would be locked away in... Although, it is more the tower that gives that impression!
The wood decor is such a nice and beautiful look!
There is one more that I will post next week and then it's done for this visit. You can only see as many castles in 3 and a half days :D
Now when you say that I can imagine it too however there were other horrible things happening in that tower :) Nothing as romantic as Rapunzel :D
I agree! Actually the whole castle is beautiful and it's a pity that it was raining all the time as I can imagine that the photos would be much better with blue sky :)
Thank you for stopping by!
HAha... yes... I got completely churched out in my first few years here in Europe! Art museums as well, although I'm starting to go back to them!
That looks like a really fun excursion to an amazing castle. (Except the rainy part). That first photo is amazing, such a huge bastion of rock. (I guess that's typical for castles. I've never seen one, except in photos). Such a contrast between the outside and inside. Looks like a really interesting place to visit. And some harsh history. The hole in the floor in the room of death is pretty harsh. Glad those times are long gone.
Thanks for sharing this part of your trip. I hope to SOMEDAY see some castles. There just aren't very many in the U.S. I think some of your bushes and trees are older than most of our buildings. Cheers.
I hope you will visit a castle one day as it's a very nice experience. It's so different to what we see everyday and you learn so much about the past.
I think that at that time they didn't value the life as much as we do. First of all they lived much shorter and second of all the understanding of justice was a bit different. I am glad that these times are long gone too :)
Hahaha, yeah, I've heard that there is not much history in the US but Europe is not that far and you can come on vacation here one day :)
Our European history part is rather short, though the true Native population is much much longer. Sad to say, and certainly a whole lot more could be said about that. I do hope to one day to head your way and see all of Europe. Such a big world, so little time and money. But I could do it on the cheap. I visited New Zealand and only spent about $5000 in three months. And a big chunk was flying there. It can be done. Just bring a tent ( :
What a cool and beautiful castle. Thanks for sharing these photos and the stories behind it, even if some of them are quite dark and bizarre!
Excellent work on this post, Martina!
Oh yes, there are many more dark stories but I didn't want to make it look so negative :)
Thank you for stopping by! And to your question from a couple of days ago (I can't find your comment anymore) - no, I haven't been attacked. I think they do support people who did some projects and other stuff here as I've seen many other people being supported.. I'm eternally grateful for the recent support that I get..
I share that love of visiting old castles. It's funny to see the old relic part mixed with the reconstructed pieces but by the small model of it it must truly have been glorious in it's time.
What a horrid little part of it's history when it was used as a prison. What a horrendous way to put people to death have them crawl in a hole in the floor to die.
Oh, to be able to peruse their library, I'm very curious to know what some of the actual titles were.
What a marvelous collection of sleighs! I can just picture the joyous rides that would occur in them.
Thanks for taking us with you on your visit to Křivoklát castle!
I'm happy that we don't let castles fall in ruins in this part of the world :) There are places where you can clearly see the reconstruction and it somehow doesn't fit together but then there are places that you wold never say were reconstructed :)
I'm so happy that the times of torturing are long gone. I'm not saying that it's not happening anywhere in the world now because it is (in a different scale of course).. I'm just saying that I'm happy that such sort of punishment is generally not accepted..
Oh, I'm not able to say as I took a few photos of books titles but they are all written so decoratively that it's not possible to read :)
Me too! It's a perfect place to such rides! The castle is on a hill and there are so many opportunities around it..
Thank you for stopping by and for your thoughtful comment!
Another truly fascinating spot! I can only imagine how neat it must be to wander those halls. I think the library would be my favorite place, as well. So many things to be learned from those pages. Thank you as always for taking me along for the journey! 😀
Thank you for stopping by Katie. This is one of the biggest libraries that I've ever visited.. more than 50000 is really A LOT! :)
If I close my eyes and think really hard about it I could just smell all those pages... ;)
This looks a marvelous place. I wonder if it was the Furstenberg family that Diane Von furstenberg married into?
I love visiting properties like this, but when they are not still owned by the families and still partially used by them, I always feel sad. For some reason the idea that it belongs to the state makes it seem so cold like the rooms just sitting empty at nights wishing to hear the laughter of children or the care of familial owners.
I LOVE those sleighs. When I was young we used to go to a place to cut our Christmas trees and you went in a horse drawn sleigh to the woods to have your tree cut, it's a magical way to travel.
Oh, I have no idea to be honest :) I just know that this family is from Luxembourg..
I agree with you. It's a pity that these castles are not used anymore but it is for a reason. It's so expensive to maintain a castle so that they rather sell it to the state and make a museum out of it. Just to heat it up costs a fortune. Most of these castles are very cold inside, like freezing.. sometimes it feels warmer outside in the winter..
It sounds so nice! I always use to love sleighing when I was a child. We had a hill next door where we went and I remember that it was like climbing Mount Everest to come up and then you feel like a queen when you go down, so fast :) Now when I look at the hill, it is just a hill..
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind words!
Nice library! I always look for the library in your posts :) I like the throne room also. I think the best photo is the eagle pull on the red background. Pull or possibly door knocker?
Hahaha, it's nice to hear that you have a preference :) It was nice and surprisingly big for just a few items that were placed there..
These photos are unfortunately not that good as they are taken with my mobile phone. But that one I like too! It's a door knocker :)
Thank you for stopping by!
This castle is definitely a gem Martina. I feel excitement just looking at the photos, so I wonder how did you feel while actually being there. Your shots are superb and you give lots of interesting details that I enjoy reading very much. I am far from my country and who knows if I ever get the chance to visit these amazing places, but thank to you I can at least reconnect this way. WEll done my Dear 😍
If I wouldn't have looked inside of this post I would have missed your sweet comment! It's amazing to stand inside of this structure, walk in the same hallways and stand in the same rooms where royalty used to be in the past. It is quite surreal and I like it very much. I have always loved history. If there would be more potential after the study I would have studied history :)
Don't you never come back here? All your family is in Canada? I know that you mentioned your daughters there but I thought that maybe you have other relatives here..
I'm sure you would love it back home. So many things have changed over the years. I still don't want to live there but I enjoy visiting this part of the world :)
Thank you for stopping by my dear!