Hrubá Skála Castle, Gothic Revival château in Hrubá Skála, Czech Republic
Hrubá Skála Castle is a sandstone fortress perched on a rocky platform in the Bohemian Paradise region, with a tower offering views across the surrounding landscape. Today it houses approximately 100 hotel beds, conference facilities, a restaurant, and a wellness center that operate year-round.
Skála Castle was probably built before 1353 by Hynek of Valdštejn and was held by the lords of Valdštejn until the end of the 14th century. From 1515 the Smiřický family bought it piece by piece and began converting the castle into a château. In 1859 Bernhard Grueber rebuilt it in the Gothic Revival style, and after 1945 the state used it as a recreation centre and later a hotel.
The name Hrubá Skála only came into use in the modern era; until the 17th century the seat was called simply Skály, as Josef Pekař argued in 1890. The castle appears in Czech films, among them Princ Bajaja (1971) and Kočičí princ (1978).
Only the courtyard and the castle lookout tower are open to the public; the rest of the building serves as a hotel. The castle stands on a sandstone rock about six kilometres south-east of Turnov, reachable by car from the Turnov–Jičín road. The nearest train stop, Hrubá Skála on the Turnov–Jičín line, is about two kilometres away, and in summer tourist bus lines called "Český ráj" run directly to the castle.
The castle stands on a sandstone block about six kilometres south-east of Turnov, and the surrounding rock formations were reshaped around 1825. A short staircase cut into the rock leads to the forward bastion called Prachovna, built in the second half of the 15th century; lumps of fired clay found there show it burned down.
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