Michalovice Castle, Castle ruin in Podlázky, Czech Republic

Michalovice Castle is a medieval ruin near Podlázky situated close to the Jizera River in Czech lands. The remains feature a distinctive cylindrical tower built from cut stones that stands out on the landscape.

The Markvartice family founded the castle in the second half of the 13th century on a steep triangular promontory above the Jizera, at 250 m elevation; the Lords of Michalovice appear in documents from 1281. Hussite troops captured it in 1425, and after the male line died out in 1468 at the Battle of Turnov it was left unmaintained, described as abandoned by 1513.

The tower is called Putna, meaning "barrel" or "tub", and since 1911 it has also served as a lookout point. In 1935 railway workers joining the two cracked halves of the tower found a purse with about 470 silver coins from the Thirty Years' War directly beneath it.

The ruin stands on a steep triangular promontory above the Jizera, 3 km northwest of Mladá Boleslav, at 250 m elevation; the ground is uneven and the site is unprotected, so wear sturdy shoes. The tower has served as a lookout since 1911, and the surviving palace wall still shows the remains of two latrines.

The tower's lean comes from 19th-century digging, not an explosion: treasure hunters undermined it, the tower cracked and tilted. In 1935 railway workers joining the split tower found a pouch of about 470 silver coins from the Thirty Years' War beneath it.