Castle Přimda, Romanesque castle ruins on Přimda hill, Czech Republic

Castle Přimda is a Romanesque ruin set on top of a wooded hill in the Bohemian Forest, close to the Bavarian border. At its center stands a rectangular stone tower that still reaches well above the treetops, making it the dominant feature of the site.

Přimda is the oldest stone castle in the Czech Republic, first mentioned in writing in 1126, when its fortifications were rebuilt under Soběslav I. It served as a royal border stronghold and prison: Soběslav II was held there in 1148–1150 and again from 1161 to 1173, and Přemysl Otakar II was confined there in 1249. From 1454 to 1592 it belonged to the lords of Švamberk, who let it decay; it was abandoned by the early 17th century.

The tower at Přimda is one of the very few Romanesque stone towers in the Czech lands still standing in its original form. Visitors can walk right up to the bare stone walls and see how straightforward and functional medieval military construction could be.

The ruin stands on Přimda hill at 848 m, and trails from the town of Přimda below climb to it with some short but steep sections. The site is freely accessible, and the small settlement of Mílov lies just south below the castle hill.

The rectangular residential tower survives to two full storeys and held a fireplace and a latrine—among the oldest of their kind in the Czech lands. Its form matches donjons of 11th–12th-century western Europe, though such towers only reached Bohemia in the 13th century.