  |
 |
VIMPERK | |
|
| 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 |
|
In 1251 to 1260 Purkart of Janovice built a fortress above a
settlement here. When Petr Kaplíř joined the fortifications of the settlement and the
castle together, King Vladislav II raised it to a town in 1479. Vimperk was plundered many
times, and after the devastation of the castle in 1619 the owner, Jáchym Novohradský of
Kolovraty, had a new part added for living in, and had the old castle repaired. A complete
renovation of the castle took place under Adam František Schwarzenberg (d. 1732). Nothing has been preserved of the interior furnishings and murals. In 1857 lightning struck the roof and despite all efforts to save it, the mansion was burned out. Its present appearance is the result of efforts to restore the object, in which only the cellars escaped the fire. Vimperk became famous for its printing house. Soon after movable type was invented, Jan Alacran of Passau printed two books in Vimperk in 1484. Calendars were also printed here, probably the first in the whole of Europe. A Gothic statue of the Madonna (cca 1400) from the workshop of the Master of the Krumlov Madonna is preserved in the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. The cemetery Church of St. Bartholomew contains murals from the second half of the 15th century. The ghost of an actuary in the shape of a donkey haunts Vimperk castle. The tale goes that two farmers from Kosmo village once gave false evidence that the actuary extorted money from them. The actuary was about to be condemned and in fear, he appealed to the powers of hell. The Devil throttled the two perjurers but changed the actuary into a donkey. |
|
|
