Ruins of Kostomlaty Castle
Between the cities of Bílina, Teplice and Ústí nad Labem you will find road No. 258, which will take you to the village of Kostomlaty pod Milešovkou. On the top of the hill southeast from the village, we will find a castle which was built in 1333 by the Lords of Osek. 2 years later, the Moravian Margrave Charles, later Emperor Charles IV, bought this castle with its estates. The access road approached the castle from the northeast through the outer fortification walls towards the gate in the lower outside section of the castle, which was protected by a round tower on the left. The inner (upper) castle, which was built on an elevated site of the castle grounds, was protected from the south and east side by walls and also by a bailey. In the southwest corner we will find a round tower, the highest point of the castle, which makes up the typical castle silhouette. At the beginning of the 17th century the castle was already abandoned and deteriorated. In 1841 a restaurant was constructed on the lower castle grounds and the big round tower inside the castle was equipped with an observation terrace and handrails and accessible by the general public. The tower used to offer magnificent views of the valley between the Krušné Mountains and the Czech Central Mountains, but unfortunately, the tower has been closed again. In 1948, the pub was demolished, and currently the castle is maintained by the Civil Association for the protection of Kostomlaty Castle. Every weekend a member of the Association is on duty here and provides visitors with information about the castle. You may purchase here small refreshments and a tourist stamp. We will reach the ruins of the castle after following the green signs from the bus station in Kostomlaty for about 1 km.
Ruins of Oltářík Castle
From Kostomlaty we shall follow a side road which will take us around Milešovka, then through Milešov and Vlastislav all the way to the village of Děkovka, where our next starting point is. We may park near the crossroad sign above the village and continue on foot and follow the blue signs for about 1 km up a steep hill towards the ruins. The Hussite commander and a brave warrior of the Hussite movement, Jakoubek of Vřesovice, built a castle on a steep basaltic rock (565 m) here sometime after 1426. At that time, new castles were rarely built and were virtually inaccessible as they resembled eagle nests built on high and lonely hills. The entire top of the basalt hill, which did not provide much space for the construction was occupied by a trapezoid residential tower with two rounded corners. Because Oltářík Castle was a military post, it was only used during battles. When there was a period of peace, nobody wanted to live so high above, and in such uncomfortable and tight quarters. So the castle was soon abandoned and after 1544 is only mentioned in archives as abandoned and devastated. Oltářík is freely available all year round and offers beautiful views of the surrounding hills of the Czech Central Mountains, the Krušné Mountains and far views of the Polabí and Poohří region (region around the Elbe and Ohře rivers)
From Děkovka we take the road No. 15 back to the village of Třebenice where we join road No 237 towards Klapý. Road signs in the village will direct us towards the parking lot, from where we walk about 2.5 km aside the yellow signs all the way to the castle. The original Klapý castle was built by the Lichtemburk clan, which since the end of the 12th century owned several places in this region. The first record of the castle comes from 1335, when Jan of Lucemburk acquired the castle from Hynek of Lichtemburk, before selling the castle soon after to Zbyněk Zajíc of Valdek. At that time the castle was named Hazmburk Castle according to the coat of arms belonging to Zbyněk Zajíc of Valdek. Even though the castle fell into disrepair over the passing centuries, the solid structure of its two towers survive until today. Remnants of the first gate, which was located close to the central quarters, can even be seen today. The second bailey (lower castle) is protected by the so-called Black Tower, around which the fortification walls turn, and thus creating a very solid and strong place. The name of the tower was derived from its building material – dark basalt. The fortifications continued and created a sort of a bailey around the inner quarters, whose wall has also been partially preserved. There is a slightly larger courtyard to the west, with remnants of buildings and a cellar. A pathway leads from the Black Tower to the inner (upper) castle, across higher grounds, where remnants of houses were still visible in the 19th century. The robust White Tower with a partially preserved enveloping wall is accessible and offers a beautiful 360° view.
.Today, the castle complex offers small refreshments.
Total length 10 km.
