Highlands. Ruins of an ancient castle. Two towers. This is not a script of a new Disney movie. Welcome to the Central Bohemian Highlands – a low mountain range located in the North-West of the Czech Republic. The highest peak of the range is mount Milešovka, with the elevation of 837 meters above sea level. Locals call this peak the queen of the Central Bohemian Highlands. If that is so, the king of the Highlands is without doubt Hazmburk Castle – ruins of an ancient castle located on mount Hazmburk (418 meters above sea level).

Hazmburk castle in the Bohemian Highlands

There are two well preserved towers dominating the remains of the medieval castle. The smaller one is called the Black tower, the larger one is called the White tower. The castle was made of black basalt stone and built in Gothic architectural style. There was a town near the castle. Not much of it is left nowadays, but the entire area surrounding the castle can make for a very attractive archaeological site.

Hazmburk castle. Remains of the palace

The exact origins of the castle are unknown. The first document that mentions the castle dates back to 1335, when the castle was acquired by the king John of Bohemia (Jan Lucemburský) – father of the famous Czech king Karel IV. Back then the name of the castle was Klapý. Shortly after, the king sold the castle to Zbyňek Zajíc from Valdek, who was a royal official. He renamed the castle to Hasenburg – literally translated from German as hare’s castle, as Zajíc in Czech means hare. After that, the castle has been extended, the White tower became higher.

Hazmburk castle. White tower

The castle, unlike the nearby villages, has never been conquered – though there were attempts to do so during the Hussite wars. Later, the castle changed its owners a few times, until eventually, it became abandoned.

Hazmburk castle

It took me about an hour to get there from Prague by car. At the foot of the Hazmburk hill there is a parking (50.4306250N, 14.0106986E). To get to the castle I had to walk 2 kilometers up the hill, climbing 185 meters. The path leads through a forest, and every now and then, I could see remains of various stone structures. The area is ticketed, opening hours are available on the official website . The tours here are unguided, so after buying the ticket I got to walk around the castle area freely, exploring the remains of palace buildings. As it was near the closing time and I was the only visitor there, I was given the keys to the White tower entrance. As I was opening the castle doors and entering the medieval tower, I started imagining what it would be like to own a castle – a very pleasant feeling.

Hazmburk castle. Stairs leading to the top of the White tower

After climbing up the White Tower and fighting my fear of heights, I was stunned by incredible views from the tower. From there, you can see most of the Central Bohemian Highlands, including mount Milešovka. It was a windy day, and up there, the wind was so strong, at times it was really hard to breathe. Despite that, I spent there at least 20 minutes enjoying the scenery.

Hazmburk castle. Black tower

The Black Tower is not open to the public. However, if you walk behind the Black tower and look down, you will see the remains of fortifications of a town, that used to be there.
All in all, visiting Hazmburk is a very interesting experience and I highly recommend it to everyone who enjoys walks in the nature and visiting medieval castles.
On the way back I stopped near Chodovlice village to take a picture of mount Milešovka.

Mount Milesovka (middle)