Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Karlštejn
KARLŠTEJN
is a small village strung out along one of the tributaries of the River
Berounka.Thoughitwasnodoubtoncepretty,todayitboastsapriceygolfcourseandcount-
less souvenir stands, and is jam-packed with tourists - around a quarter of a million a year -
visiting its superbly positioned
hrad
.
The hrad
Castle
July & Aug daily 9am-6.30pm; March-June & Sept-Jan Tues-Sun, shorter hours; Feb Sat & Sun only
Guidedtours
Basic okruhItours (50min; 170Kč); extended okruhIItours (June-Oct only; 1hr10min; 300Kč)
• 311 681 617,
hradkarlstejn.cz
Designed in the fourteenth century by Matthias of Arras for Emperor Charles IV, Karlštejn's
hrad
was built as a giant safe-box for the imperial crown jewels and his large collection of
precious relics. Occupying a defiantly unassailable position above the village, it quickly be-
came Charles's favourite retreat from the vast city he himself had masterminded. Women
were strictly forbidden to enter the castle, and the story of his third wife Anna's successful
break-in (in drag) became one of the most popular Czech comedies of the nineteenth century
and is the subject of the 1970s Czech film
Noc na Karlštejně
(A Night at Karlštejn).
Ruthlessly and somewhat inaccurately restored in the late nineteenth century by the great
neo-GothicizerJosefMocker,thecastlenowlooksmuchbetterfromadistance,withitsgiant
wedge towers rising above a series of castellated walls. Most of the rooms visited on the
guided tours contain only the barest of furnishings, the empty spaces taken up by displays on
the castle's history. Theoretically, the top two chambers would make the whole trip worth-
while: unfortunately, on the basic
guided tour
, you can only look into (but not enter) the em-
peror's residential
Mariánská věž
. It was here that Charles shut himself off from the rest of
