Zvikov Castle

Zvikov stands on the spur where the Otava joins the Vltava and it is usually called the king of Czech castles - it was the principal royal castle of the Premyslid kings in the thirteenth century, kept the crown jewels for a period, and its architecture is the earliest fully Gothic secular work in Bohemia. The core is a rectangular palace around a courtyard with two storeys of arcades on slender columns, an unusually refined arrangement for the 1230s and 1240s, and a chapel with wall paintings of the fifteenth century. The Hlizova tower, older and square, stands at one corner. The reservoirs changed the setting here too - the Orlik dam raised the water at the foot of the rock - but the castle itself sits high enough to keep its position. There is a legend of the Zvikov imp, a creature said to appear in the tower, which is the local ghost story.

What you actually see

• Two storeys of arcades - early Gothic courtyard work of the 1230s and 1240s.
• A river confluence - the Otava joining the Vltava below the spur.
• Fifteenth-century wall paintings - in the castle chapel.
• The Hlizova tower - the older square keep at the corner.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Seasonal opening, closed in winter, and parts are shown only on a guided route. The approach road is narrow. Boat services from Orlik run to a seasonal timetable and depend on water level.

Nearby

Orlik is downstream; Pisek and its medieval stone bridge are south.