Boskovice hrad

Classification: Château fort
Pays: Tchéquie
Région: Blansko
Adresse: Hradní 7, 680 01 Boskovice

Boskovice Castle rises above the southern edge of the town of Boskovice, approximately 11 km north of Blansko. The extensive ruins of this 13th-century castle have been a cultural monument since 1964. Boskovice Castle was built in the second half of the 13th century and is typologically classified among castles with an enclosing curtain wall. The structure was captured and damaged in 1312 and repeatedly again in the late 14th century. After 1389 the demolished castle and the nearby town of Boskovice were acquired by Erhart of Kunštát, who undertook a costly restoration that surpassed most comparable structures in the entire country in its grandeur. During the Hussite Wars the castle was again taken in 1424, and as a result the lords of Kunštát commenced the construction of a new circuit of walls reinforced with bastions. In 1434 the Boskovice estate was owned by the future Bohemian king Jiří of Kunštát and Poděbrady, who in 1458 ceded the castle to the regional governor Vaněk Černohorský of Boskovice, thereby returning it to the possession of the founding family. In 1547 Kryštof of Boskovice sold the castle to Šimon Eder of Štiavnica, and his son Vít sold Boskovice in 1567 to Jaroš Morkovský of Zástřizl, under whom work on the reconstruction of the castle continued. It was at this time that the Renaissance watchtower was erected, the adjacent buildings constructed, the entrance gates built, and the fortifications completed. The building works concluded under Jaroš's successor Václav the Elder Morkovský of Zástřizl. In 1690 the castle was acquired through his marriage to Zuzana Prakšická of Zástřizl by her husband František Walter of Dietrichstein, who was the last owner to reside in the castle. The castle no longer suited the Dietrichsteins' needs, and they therefore began constructing a costly new château residence near the centre of the town of Boskovice. As a result of losing its function, the castle fell into disrepair and gradually became a source of building stone for the construction of the lord's buildings in Boskovice. In 1843 the heiress to the Boskovice estate, Terezie of Dietrichstein, married Count Alfons Mensdorff-Pouilly. Terezie died in 1856 and her inheritance thus passed to the Mensdorff-Pouilly family. In 1952 the entire family's property was confiscated. Only under the restitution law was the majority of the property, including the castle, returned to the Mensdorff-Pouilly family in 1991. The castle is today open to the public from April to October.

Site officiel ↗