Castle Lopata, Gothic castle ruins in Milínov, Czech Republic

Castle Lopata is a ruin of a two-part bergfrit castle on a buližník rock above the Kornatický stream valley at 420 m. Its core has a trapezoidal plan with a 10 m bergfrit whose wall was almost 3 m thick, a four-sided residential tower, a palace with tiled stoves, and a 4 m deep cistern. The gate was 1.5 m wide and 4 m high.

Archaeological digs reveal that the site was occupied during Linear Pottery, Cham, and Hallstatt periods before the medieval castle was built. These earlier settlement layers show a long history of human presence at this strategically positioned location.

The castle's name, Lopata, means "shovel" in Czech, though sources do not explain its origin. The site lies within the Lopata nature reserve, and the surrounding plateau preserves the earthworks of the 1432–1433 besiegers' camp, including a gun emplacement for a bombard of about 50 cm calibre.

The ruins lie about two kilometres north of Milínov, on a buližník rock outcrop above the Kornatický potok valley at 420 m. The core is entered on foot over a bridge across the moat, past the gate in the parkán wall. The site forms part of the Lopata nature reserve, so stay on the paths.

Around the ruin, the siege camp of 1432–1433 survives in the terrain: north of the castle, on the highest point of the plateau below the 452 m summit of Lopata, attackers built a position for a bombarda of about 50 cm calibre, protected by a ditch and rampart. Excavations there yielded many crossbow bolts and projectiles fired by the defenders.