Krakovec Castle

Krakovec Castle has the character of a Gothic chateau rather than a castle. Its content was mainly the requirements of representation and comfortable living. It’s situated in the Central Bohemia region in the district Rakovnik.

As for the interior of the castle, the inner castle was two-part, the front part contained an entrance gate and a rampart surrounding a half-cylindrical tower, connected to the rampart defining the rear residential part of the castle, formed by a three-winged perimeter palace development.

The best-equipped rooms were the representational spaces on the first floor with a large hall with a fireplace and an architecturally  interesting chapel with an orielextended presbytery in the south-eastern part of the castle. The defensive function of the castle was very suppressed, as evidenced by the large windows on the ground floor.

The most remarkable place in Krakovec Castle is considered to be the space of the chapel, which is originally spatially arranged. There is a pentagonal presbytery in the form of a large bay window.

From the researches can be concluded that this original construction allows the arching of irregular floor plans of a regular cross vault with circular ribs of a single radius. The castle is accessible via an all-wood, hand-carved bridge, the construction of which is based on the morphology of the late Middle Ages, which has no parallel in Europe. That work was completed in May 2005.

Krakovec Castle introduces us to an exceptional atmosphere of the era of Wenceslas IV., the time of Gothic Mannerism, the time of the beautiful style of the time of the stunning Madonnas, and introduces the highest architectural unity, originality, and shape richness of vault systems.

If we would like to learn a little about the history of Krakovec Castle, the most important year is 1381. In this year, the castle was founded by George of Roztoky, who was the burgrave of Krivoklat and also a favorite of king Wenceslas IV. In 1414, Jan Hus visited this castle.

The castle was renovated in the 16th and 17th centuries but was never completely rebuilt. In 1783, wooden parts of buildings burned down and had not been repaired since then. In 1855, large parts of the castle collapsed, in 1883 the east wing was demolished by dynamite.

Nowadays, the castle’s south wing is the best preserved. From the west wing, the outer perimeter wall and parts of the transverse walls have been preserved, from the east wing, the perimeter masonry remains below the level of the courtyard.

Today the entire area of the castle is available to visitors. During a free or guided tour, it’s possible to admire the unique Gothic elements, an oriel chapel, a half-cylindrical tower, and much more. Krakovec Castle is also known to many people as Brtnik Castle from the children’s musical “At ziji duchove!”, which took place here.

For more information about the Central Bohemia Region, from which this castle comes, click here and here.