3BezdězReason to visitThe majestic ruin of this medieval castle is one of the dominating features of the Czech landscape. It has been a creative inspiration for many artists, including the composer Bedřich Smetana, who used motifs from the local legend about hidden treasure in his opera The Secret. The greatest Czech Romantic poet, Karel Hynek Mácha, made the castle famous in his epic poem May, a tale of tragic love. The nearby Mácha Lake, named for the poet, is today a centre for water sport and recreation.Of historical interestOttokar II of Bohemia (Přemysl Otakar II), the “Iron and Golden King”, certainly could not have known that the sentry castle he built in the second half of the 13th century as a residence for his occasional stays would soon after his death become a prison for his 7-year-old son Wenceslas (Václav) and his widowed queen for many long months. In the 17th century the castle was turned into a fortified monastery, and after its closure the castle deteriorated into a picturesque ruin. The most valuable building is the chapel of the Royal Palace, a real jewel of Gothic architecture. To admire distant views of “Mácha’s region” from an even greater height, climb the massive 40-metre Great Tower, which was the last refuge for local inhabitants in the event of a siege of the castle. Státní hrad Bezděz472 01 Doksy actionURI(http://hrad-bezdez.cz/en ):
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