Helfstyn Castle

Helfstyn spreads over a ridge above the Becva at the Moravian Gate, the low pass between the Carpathians and the Sudetes that has carried traffic since prehistory, and it is one of the largest castle ruins in Central Europe - five gates in succession, a palace, a bastioned artillery fortification of the sixteenth century and a long series of wards, covering about seven and a half hectares. It was slighted in 1656 and has been ruin since. Since 1982 it has hosted Hefaiston, an international meeting of artistic blacksmiths held each August, the largest event of its kind in the world, which brings smiths from dozens of countries and has left a permanent collection of forged sculpture around the castle. In 2020 the ruined palace was given a controversial modern roof and glazed walkways, which won architecture awards and divides local opinion.

What you actually see

• Five gates in succession - a ruin of about seven and a half hectares along the ridge.
• Sixteenth-century artillery works - bastions added when guns arrived.
• Hefaiston in August - the largest artistic blacksmithing meeting in the world.
• A modern palace roof - the 2020 glazed intervention, admired and disliked locally.

When to go

April to October; August for Hefaiston. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a ruin - extensive, uneven and exposed. Seasonal opening. Hefaiston weekend fills the site and the roads. The 2020 roofing is modern architecture inserted into a ruin, which not everyone likes.

Nearby

Lipnik nad Becvou is below; Teplice nad Becvou and its caves are west.