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ROŽMBERK | |
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| Bechyně Blatná České Budějovice Červená Lhota Český Krumlov Dačice Dívčí Kámen Hluboká Jindřichův Hradec Klokoty Kratochvíle Landštejn Nové Hrady Ohrada Orlík Pelhřimov Písek Prachatice Rožmberk Schwarzenberg tomb Strakonice Tábor Třeboň Vimperk Vyšší Brod Zlatá Koruna Zvíkov We recommend |
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Rožmberk castle was built on the Linz salt trail near a ford
across the Vltava, it is said, by Vítek, third son of the ancestor of all Vítkovici -
Vítek of Prčice. It existed already in 1250 when Vok of Prčice added "of
Rožmberk" to his name. The only part preserved of this castle, called Horní (Upper) castle, is the round Jakobínka tower. The present Dolní (Lower) castle arose in the 14th century when Rožmberk was no longer the residence of the Rožmberks who moved in 1302 to Český Krumlov. The Rožmberks were so overburdened with debts in the Hussite wars that they pawned Rožmberk castle to the Lords of Walsce and it was not paid for and returned till after the mid - 15th century. After the Upper castle burned down, work was started on enlarging and improving the Lower castle after the mid - 16th century when the facades were decorated with Renaissance grafřiti. In 1600 Petr Vok handed the castle over to his nephew, Jan Zrinský, who settled in it and had it renovated; the painted wood ceilings and murals date from that time. Jan Zrinský bequeathed it to the Švamberks, but all their property was confiscated, and in 1620 Ferdinand II presented it together with Nové Hrady to General Karel Bonaventura Buquoy of the French province Artois in reward for his services. That family owned both estates until 1945. In 1840 to 1857 under Jiří Jan Buquoy Rožmberk was rebuilt in Romantic Gothic style, and meant to be a dignified reminder of the fame of the Buquoy family reaching back to the time of the first Crusade. Fictitious portraits of Crusaders, painted by Strobl according to copies from Versailles, were hung in the newly arranged Crusaders' gallery. The castle was given oriels, the tower heightened and castellated. The Rožmberk chamber was renovated and a new staircase built. A New Mansion, as it was called, was built out of the Renaissance wing near the Jakobínka tower and an English park laid out. The sight-seeing tour covers the time of the last Rožmberks and the Buquoys. Portraits of Vilém and Petr Vok, accompanied by their faithful guardian, the White Lady, are to be seen, wall paintings in the Knights' Hall recalling Jan Zrinský, and mementos of the forefathers and descendants of the victor at the Battle of the White Mountain, Karel Bonaventura Buquoy, in the Crusaders' gallery, armoury and other rooms. The decanal Church of the Virgin Mary in the town is worth a visit. Its three naves, surprisingly narrow, were given reticulated vaulting on three pairs of slender pillars at the expense of the Vyšebrod abbot, Jiří Taxer, in 1583. In the presbytery the cross ribs of the vaulting form a complicated design. The early-Baroque, richly carved altar puts the finishing touch to the beauty of the church interior. The White Lady was to be seen most often at Rožmberk, last of all during World War II when a camp for Nazi youth was set up there. A figure in white frightened two girls who went to hoist the Nazi flag on the square tower early one morning. The camp leader and custodian also saw the figure when they went to verify the hysterical girls' story. The Gestapo whom they called in found nothing, but after the girls refused to go up the tower, the Nazi flag never flew again over Rožmberk. |
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