Žerotice Castle, Castle ruin in Žerotice, Czech Republic

Žerotice Castle is a small castle ruin on the southeastern edge of the village of Žerotice in the Znojmo district. Its round ground plan enclosed a central courtyard reached from the south through a vaulted passage across a 12-metre-wide walled moat. Surviving are a Renaissance-vaulted room, the palace's perimeter walls up to the first floor, buttresses, the remnant of a prismatic tower and the walled moat.

The village with a two-storey stronghold was first mentioned in 1259 under Cuzkraj of Žerotice; the fortress itself appears in 1358, when Adam of Žerotice sold it to Beneš of Weitmile, who enlarged it. The Weitmile family held it until 1502, and from 1512, after rebuilding, it was called a chateau. Swedish troops captured and burned it during the Thirty Years' War.

The village church of St Martin was already recorded in 1253, six years before the first mention of the stronghold. From 1512 the rebuilt residence was called a chateau, and the Zástřizl and Březnický families continued its Renaissance alterations.

Access to the inner courtyard led from the south through a vaulted passage across a 12-metre-wide walled moat, so approach the site from the village edge on that side. The surviving masonry includes the moat walls, the palace perimeter up to first-floor height and the remains of the prismatic tower, which collapsed in part in 1988.

Two walls of the prismatic tower collapsed in 1988, and from 1938 parts of the ruin were demolished, with the stone used to build the road to Želetice. The present owner bought the ruin in 1998 and is gradually reconstructing it.