In the morning we chose our next destination – Karlstejn Castle, not far from the city.
Buildings in Prague are very beautiful
Upon arrival we were told that the closest parking is about 1,5 mi away and the road goes uphill, so we can go by foot, take the special bus or try to ride a horse-drawn carriage. Boy, after yesterday’s meal we were too lazy to walk, so we decided to go with the horse. In the middle of our ride I felt so sorry about our decision, because the horse man sometimes wasn’t very nice to the horses, trying to make them walk faster uphill and the slope was pretty steep.
The big Gothic castle was founded in 1348 by Charles IV: Holly Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. The royal jewelry and other treasures were stored here in the main tower. The king had an awful accident in his young years, when during the one of the knights tournaments he was hit hard with a spire. The spire damaged his jaw, and went deep into his neck, up to the spine, so Charles became paralyzed. However, the monks helped him, putting his jaw back into place – and I bet that was super duper painful, since there were no pain reducers back in the day – and after a couple of months Charles was able to feel his body again. Monks had to re-teach him how to walk and care for himself. But his face changed because of the trauma, and, I guess, that was one of the reasons why his throne stood with windows behind it so visitors couldn’t see king’s face well – but at the same time visitors faces where lit and king could see all their emotions very clearly.
Once upon a time here was a toilet
Charles had four wives – one at the time. King and his wife didn’t sleep in one bedroom, the wife had a different floor of the tower, and stairs led there from the king’s quarters, but she was not allowed to use them. King believed that women can be easily possessed by the devil, and that they will come into his bedroom in the middle of the night and kill him.
Only once a wife wanted to break the rule and tried to visit her husband at night. The dogs that were sleeping with Charles attacked her and ripped her throat out.
Kings bed, it seems short – but it’s just an optical illusion
Ceiling in the Throne Room
Throne Room
The castle was attacked twice in it’s history. The first time the enemy army surrounded the castle, but couldn’t break in, so after six month they gave up and left. The second attempt was more successful, the enemy reached the inner courtyard, but didn’t break into the main tower – which is good, the treasures stood intact – but soon a peace treaty was signed and they had to leave.
Courtyard
Because the main tower was never breached, the castle can’t be considered as fully conquered.
Treasures that were kept in the Castle
After our tour in the castle ended, we went to another tourist attraction not far from the castle – Velka America – the big America Czech Grand Canyon.
Once upon a time there was a limestone quarry, now abandoned. It is 800 m in length, 200 m wide and ~100 m deep with a lake on the bottom, and lake is deep too – about 18 m. The quarry was used in some local film making.
We walked around the quarry – there is a path going around it. But i’m afraid of heights and did feel very uncomfortable every time when any adult family member came closer to the edge to make a photo.
Quarry Great America
We became very hungry by the time of driving back to the hotel. So we decided to go to the same restaurant as yesterday, to have more meat and beer 🙂
Dinner time!