Křivoklát Castle silver medal 2010 1Oz PROOF

Křivoklát Castle

was first used as a hunting castle for princes and kings. Kosmas mentions Křivoklát in connection with the year 1110, but since archaeological research has not shown any settlement from the 11th-12th centuries, some believe that Kosmas is referring to another place of the same name. The present large Gothic royal castle was built in the 13th century on the site of an earlier early medieval castle first mentioned in 1190.

The castle was rebuilt and enlarged by Přemysl Otakar I. The construction work continued during the reign of his son Václav I. In the first half of the 13th century it became one of the seat castles of the Czech kings and was administered by the purgrave. Václav I and Přemysl Otakar II often stayed here. The latter completed the reconstruction of the castle and had the castle chapel built. After the fire of Prague Castle in 1316, Queen Eliška Přemyslovna took refuge in Křivoklát. Charles IV (1319-1323) spent his childhood here, then still as Václav. From there he left for France and eight years later returned here with his pregnant wife Blanka of Valois. Their daughter Markéta was born at Křivoklát. Later, however, Charles preferred Karlštejn Castle. Before the construction of Točník Castle, Wenceslas IV also often stayed here.

Křivoklát Castle was severely damaged by fires many times in history. It has burnt down every 200 years. In 1422 the castle was damaged by fire for the first time. During this fire, the so-called Man House was destroyed, whose relics were archaeologically investigated by Tomáš Durdík in the 1980s. The results of this research not only provided a completely unique collection of often very luxurious everyday objects, but also a thorough understanding of a rarely preserved archaeological site. The Manx house was not restored in any form after the fire and its remains were left completely unnoticed and gradually overgrown with vegetation.

In 1471, the newly elected king, Vladislav II. Jagiellon, the Jagiellonian monarch, bought the castle and rebuilt it in the late Gothic style. At that time the castle took on the form in which it has been preserved to this day.

In the 16th century the castle became the property of the Habsburgs, who established a state prison here. Another fire almost destroyed the castle in 1597. In the 17th century the castle was in the hands of the Wallenstein and Fürstenberg families.

After 1880, the castle underwent a significant purist reconstruction. In 1929, Max Egon Fürstenberg sold Křivoklát to the Czechoslovak state.