Houska Castle

Houska was built in the second half of the thirteenth century on a sandstone rock in empty forest, and the puzzle that has generated its reputation is genuine: it had no well, no kitchen and no permanent garrison, its fortifications face inward rather than outward in places, and there was no settlement, trade route or border to guard. Various explanations have been offered - an administrative seat for royal forest estates, a treasury, an unfinished project - and none is settled. The legend that grew up says it was built over a fissure in the rock that opened into hell and was sealed with a chapel. The chapel is the real interest: it has wall paintings of about 1330, among the older Gothic murals in Bohemia, including a left-handed archer-centaur figure that occurs nowhere else in Czech painting. The castle was restored in the 1920s and is privately run, with tours playing the legend up considerably.

What you actually see

• A castle with no well or kitchen - and fortifications facing partly inward.
• Gothic murals of about 1330 - among the oldest in Bohemia, in the chapel.
• A left-handed archer-centaur - a figure with no parallel in Czech painting.
• The gate-to-hell legend - which the tours lean on heavily.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The paranormal marketing is thick and some tours are built around it - the murals are the real reason to come. Seasonal opening only. Remote by road with limited public transport.

Nearby

Bezdez castle is north; Kokorin is south.