Pernštejn

Pernštejn was built between 1270 and 1285 by masters of Pernštejn and functioned as their ancestral residence until 1596. The Pernštejn family gradually became one of the most powerful aristocratic families in the Czech lands, whose wealth at the end of the Middle Ages exceeded that of the southern-Bohemian lords of Rožmberk (Rosenberg). In order for the castle to adequately reflect their social position, in the late 15^th and 16^th century it was rebuilt in the late Gothic and Renaissance style, at great expense. Throughout its existence, it was never conquered; during the Thirty Years’ War it withstood the Swedish siege of 1645. It functioned as an aristocratic residence with major changes until 1945, when it was confiscated from the last owners from the Mitrovský family, based on the Beneš decrees.

As the castle escaped the purist reconstruction projects that were popular in the 19^th century, its valuable authentic late-medieval form has been preserved. Today, the original core of the castle with the defence tower Barborka is almost entirely filled up with two palaces and a residential tower. Their walls are covered by a large number of colourful Late Gothic bay windows, to which Pernštejn owns its unique appearance. The palaces are connected by a unique circular corridor along the crown of the former rampart. The castle’s rich history is reflected in the extensive decorations of the interior, created between the 14^th and 19^th century. What is especially worth of attention is the entrance hall of the older, southern palace with a late-Gothic diamond vault and the Knights’ Hall ornamented with Baroque stucco. A large part of the stone details, e.g. the frames of the portals, were made from the local Nedvědice marble; Pernštejn is therefore sometimes called the “marble castle”. On the eastern side of the castle core there is another, Renaissance palace of Jan IV of Pernštejn, from 1521–1548, in which a library, decorated in Neo-Gothic style, was set up in the 19^th century. Around the castle core, an expansive inner ward with service and commercial buildings. Next to the originally defensive Clock Tower in the northeast corner, which served as a bell tower from the beginning of the 17^th century, there is a Baroque Chapel of the Conversion of St. Paul. The entrance gate is guarded by the square “Four Seasons” tower located in the middle of the north rampart. The tower was also used as a dungeon. The access road to the castle, leading over a narrow ridge, was gradually filled by two more wards, defended by a forward fortification and a mighty barbican.