Landstejn Castle

Landstejn was built in the first half of the thirteenth century on a granite ridge at the point where Bohemia, Moravia and Austria met, and it is generally described as the best-preserved Romanesque castle of its type in Central Europe. The core is a palace block flanked by two square towers of the same height, standing to their full height with the original round-arched windows and doorways, later wrapped in Gothic and Renaissance fortification with a bastioned outer ward when firearms changed what a castle needed. It was struck by lightning and burned in 1771 and has been a ruin since, which is why the medieval fabric survives without later domestic rebuilding. The towers are climbable and the view runs over the granite and pond country of Ceska Kanada into Austria. There is an exhibition on the castle's building phases, and concerts are held in the ward.

What you actually see

• Twin square Romanesque towers - standing full height with original openings.
• A palace block between them - the thirteenth-century core, unaltered.
• Later bastioned fortification - the outer ward added for firearms.
• A view into Austria - over the granite and pond country from the towers.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

It is a ruin with no roofed interiors. Tower stairs are steep and close in bad weather. Seasonal opening only. The area has minimal services and poor public transport.

Nearby

Slavonice and its sgraffito square are ten kilometres away.