|
tel.: (+420) 603 232 212, (+420) 465 320 627 e-mail: hrad.litice@seznam.cz web: http://hrad.litice.sweb.cz/ |
|
tel.: (+420) 603 232 212, (+420) 465 320 627 e-mail: hrad.litice@seznam.cz web: http://hrad.litice.sweb.cz/ |
|
|
days | hours |
|---|---|---|
| April | Weekends + Holydays | 9.00 - 16.00 |
| May - June | Tuesday to Friday + Holydays | 9.00 - 17.00 |
| July - August | Tuesday to Friday + Holydays | 9.00 - 18.00 |
| September - October | Weekends + Holydays | 9.00 - 16.00 |
|
|
price |
|---|---|
| full fee | 40 Kč |
| reducted fee* | 30 Kč |
* children up the age to 15, students
The steep slopes of the foothills of the Orlické hory
(Eagle Mountains) gave the advantage of a strategic position to the gothic
castles being founded there at the close of the 13th century. The high
headland around which flowed the Divoká Orlice River was the site chosen just
before the year 1300 by the Drslavic family to build up a castle which they named
after their original family settlement in the Plzen area. For a short span of
time in the 14th century the Litice castle was owned by two Luxemburg rulers
successively, John of Luxemburg and Charles IV. In 1371 Boček of Kunštát, a Moravian noble, came with his family to settle at the castle. One
branch of the family became naturalized in Bohemia through marriage and the
purchase of the Poděbrady and Pardubice estates.
The appearance of the oldest gothic castle was lost under the extensive
construction work launched in 1450 by George of Poděbrady, later King
of Bohemia. The former gothic likeness can be distinguished only in the
two-palace core of the castle, resembling similar architecture applied in the
14th century at Helfenberk and Menstein. The turbulent times following the
Hussite wars, rife with internal conflicts between alliances of the
aristocrats fighting for power in the Kingdom of Bohemia, one of the strongest
being the Utraquist party of Jiri of Podebrady, called for essential measures
to safeguard this important castle. The reign of
George
of Poděbrady from 1458
brought peace and quiet to Bohemia for a short time. This was interrupted in
the mid sixties of the 15th century by a war caused by the Papal Court
instigating the resistance of the local catholic nobility and then asking the
Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus to intervene.
This was the historical background to swift reconstruction of the castle and
its fortifications. The atmosphere of the times and the prevalent
bourgeios-aristocratic environment influenced the character of the
architecture in the general concept of which the dying tradition of the 14th
century can still be traced. This tradition was in conception and architecture
practically outdated by 1450. The external system of fortifications, mostly
still preserved, surprisingly shows the partial use of artillery when
defending the castle. This was due, on the one hand, to the favourable layout
of the terrain which reduced the need for elaborate fortifications and cannon
bastions to a minimum and, on the other hand, it can be attributed to the
generally rather obsolete concept.
The access road to Litice Castle was interrupted at its most vulnerable point
by a wall and a deep moat crossed by a drawbridge. The entrance to the castle
was through a tower gate built in one piece with the adjacent guardhouse. The
front of the gate holds a significant place in Czech creative art. It is one
of the few remaining specimens of the stone mason's art of the sixties of the
15th century and, what is more, it is linked with the King Jin of Podebrady
himself. The work as such and the setting of the reliefs show the low artistic
standard of the sculptor who belonged to the town's stone - masons' workshops.
The relief over the small gate for pedestrians carries a helmet set with a
jewel and four coats-of-arms-those of Bohemia, Moravia, Upper Lusatia and
Podebrady - and an inscription: "This tower was built during the reign of
His Royal Highness King Jiri of Bohemia and Margrave of Moravia in 1468."
The text dates the completion of the gate and most likely of the whole
Podebrady era of reconstruction. The figu-ral reliefs on the left side of the
gate represent Jiri of Podebrady with a ribbon across his chest, a human mask
in the bottom part and in a niche above the king a figure of a builder
carrying a hammer.
The gate itself was protected by a rectangular bastion, the broken line of
corner fortifications and, together with another circular bastion beneath the
inner castle, they served chiefly for the use of the artilery as it is
testified by the still existing embrasures, typical of the Podebrady-type
structures. Preserved to the present time is the southern wing of the castle
with its slim, square tower. The halls of the palace, which can be approached
from the courtyard over the drawbridge which takes you to the first floor,
were illuminated by tall windows with window seats. The residential rooms on
the second floor had windows facing the outside of the castle as well. The
most notable architecture at Litice is the tower. Its higher artistic value is
evident from the remarkable portals giving access from the palace and the
vaulting at the different floor levels.
The estate, heavily in debt, was purchased from the sons of Jiri of Podebrady
by Vilem of
Pernstein who linked it to nearby Potstejn to where he tranfered the
administrative centre. The importance of the castle started to decline and,
because subsequent owners did not pay due attention to its upkeep either, it
slowly fell into ruin. From 1562 Litice was owned by the lords of Bubno. The
19th century witnessed the rapid disintegration of some of the castle
structures. Repair work in the years 1890 to 1894 and then in the twenties and
thirties of the 20th century stabilized the southern palace and the tower
which then received its present gallery and roofing. The condition of the
whole building further deteriorated in subsequent decades until the new owner,
the State, instituted measures to stabilize the structure and to restore the
palace and its foundations.
Published by Conservation Institute in Pardubice 1993
Stránky vytvořil: Lukáš Bojčuk,
lukas.bojcuk@seznam.cz
Umístění stránky: http://hrad.litice.sweb.cz/
Poslední aktualizace této stránky:
