Zvířetice Castle

The castle was probably built at the beginning of the 14th century. The location, not far from the old trade route from Prague to Zittau, was favorably chosen. On three sides, steep rocks offered natural protection; only the west side had to be fortified with a moat and a wall. The builder of the complex was Zdislav von Lemberg, son of the canonized Zdislava. His descendants adopted the family name Ze Zvířetic and used the castle as their main residence until the beginning of the 16th century. In 1504, the family seat was sold. The castle first went to Václav Sezimov z Ústí, in 1528 to the Wartenberg family, and in 1610 to Georg Wratislaw von Mitrowitz. He died childless six years later and bequeathed his fortune to Jan Vlk z Kvítkova. His estates were confiscated after the Bohemian Revolt of 1618 and bought in 1623 by Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Waldstein, who transferred the dominion a year later to his distant cousin Maximilian von Waldstein. His grandson Ernst Josef von Waldstein (1654–1708) combined Zvířetice and some surrounding estates into a large, closed property; however, the newly expanded Mnichovo Hradiště Castle became the residence of the dominion from 1690. The originally Gothic castle, rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the second half of the 16th century, was severely damaged by two fires and was not rebuilt after the second fire in 1720. The complex is now a ruin. The keep, which was converted into an observation tower in the 19th century, is freely accessible.