Nóve Hrady Castle, Gothic castle in South Bohemia, Czech Republic

Nové Hrady Castle, also called the Old Castle, stands on a rocky spur above the Stropnice in the town of Nové Hrady. Its oldest phase was a bergfrit-type castle with two gates; the round bergfrit vanished in the 1573 gunpowder blast. The moat, about 15 m deep and 23 m wide, is among the largest in Czechia.

A Gothic castle built around the mid-13th century, first documented in 1279 with its owner Ojíř of the Vítkovci family. It passed to the Lords of Landštejn and from 1359 to the Rožmberks; after a gunpowder explosion in 1573 and an earthquake in 1590 it was rebuilt and refortified. From 1635 the Buquoys used it for estate offices, forestry and their family archive.

The castle is also called Old Palace (Starý zámek) to distinguish it from the Buquoy New Palace on the square. Since the 1950s part of it has housed an exhibition of mainly hyalite glass, and the name Nové Hrady means "New Castles", referring to the two gates of the original layout.

Solid shoes are a good idea as paths across the site include cobblestones and stairs, particularly in the older sections. A guided tour helps make sense of the complex since the different building phases can be hard to tell apart without explanation.

The moat dug after 1605 is 15 metres deep and 23 metres wide, among the largest castle moats in the Czech Republic. The round bergfrit tower that once dominated the site was destroyed by the gunpowder blast of 1573; its remains were uncovered by archaeological excavation.