Bělá Castle is a castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

 located in the Plzeň Region

Plzen Region

Plzeň Region is an administrative unit in the western part of Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It is named after its capital Plzeň .- Communes :...

 of the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

. The first mention of the castle comes from somewhere between 1315 and 1318. It is located in the village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 of Dolní Bělá

Dolní Belá

Dolní Bělá is a village and municipality in the Czech Republic. It is located approximately 20 kilometers north north-west of Plzeň. The village had 446 inhabitants as of July 3, 2006.-Castle:...

 near Plzeň.

History

The castle of Bělá was built between 1313 and 1315 by Racek, a member of the influential Czech house of Hroznata. The village itself was first mentioned in a written document in 1318. The Hroznatas held Bělá until 1415, when they sold it to Neustup and Bavor of Švamberk. The castle was sold or even confiscated several times during 15th century and 16th century. The most notable owners during that time were probably the Gutstejns - Volf of Gutstejn was a robber and the castle was confiscated from him in 1509.

The original heavily fortified castle was rebuilt to a chateau sometimes towards the end of the 16th century, while owned by the family of Markvarts of Hradek. At that time, the castle had a prominent guest—Kryštof Harant

Kryštof Harant

Kryštof Harant z Polžic a Bezdružic was a Czech nobleman, traveller, humanist, soldier, writer and composer.As a composer he represented the school of Franco-Flemish polyphony in Bohemia...

 stayed there before he started his journey to the Holy Land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

.

In 1757, the castle was purchased by the Cistercian monastery of Plasy

Plasy

Plasy is a small town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It lies on the Střela River, some to the north from the region capital of Plzeň....

. After Emperor Joseph II

Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor

Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...

abolished religious orders, the property was managed by the Religious Fund. Around 1785, the local people were allowed to take the castle apart and use the stones to build their own houses.

External links

• Castle's History