Rozmberk Castle

Rozmberk was built in the early thirteenth century by Vok of Prcice on a spur above a tight bend of the upper Vltava, and the family took its name and its five-petalled rose emblem from it, going on to become the most powerful house in southern Bohemia. The complex has two parts: the upper castle, of which the round Jakobinka tower survives, and the lower castle, rebuilt in Renaissance and again in the nineteenth century by the Buquoy family in a romantic English manner, which is what visitors go through. The rooms hold the Buquoy collections, arms, and a portrait of Perchta of Rozmberk - the White Lady of Czech legend, said to appear at family houses to foretell births and deaths, wearing white gloves for good news and black for bad. It is the country's most persistent ghost story. Canoeists on the upper Vltava pass directly below.

What you actually see

• The Rosenberg name-seat - where the family and its rose emblem came from.
• The Jakobinka tower - the round survivor of the upper castle.
• Romantic nineteenth-century rooms - the Buquoy remodelling and collections.
• Perchta's portrait - the White Lady of the best-known Czech ghost legend.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, seasonal, closed in winter. The village is small with limited parking. The canoe route below is busy in July and August. Several routes and tickets to choose between.

Nearby

Vyssi Brod monastery is upstream; Cesky Krumlov is downstream.