Kost Castle

Kost was built in the second half of the fourteenth century on a sandstone spur at the bottom of the Plakanek valley rather than on a summit, which is unusual and deliberate: the ponds around it could be raised to flood the approaches, and the surrounding rock walls meant an attacker had to come down to it. Its keep, the White Tower, is trapezoidal in plan and grows wider towards the top, a form found nowhere else in Bohemia, thought to be designed so that shot falling from above would be deflected and so that the widest fighting platform sat highest. It was never taken. The complex is one of the best-preserved Gothic castles in the country, with a chapel, cellars used for a torture exhibition, and rooms holding painting and arms. The Plakanek valley below is a walking route through sandstone and mill ponds.

What you actually see

• A castle in a valley - built low with ponds that could flood the approaches.
• A widening trapezoidal keep - a plan with no other Czech parallel.
• A preserved Gothic complex - chapel, cellars and rooms largely intact.
• The Plakanek valley - sandstone and mill ponds walked from below.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, seasonal, with several routes. The torture exhibition is aimed at a particular audience. Parking is limited and the valley road is narrow. It closes in winter.

Nearby

Humprecht is above Sobotka; the Bohemian Paradise rock cities are north.