About Primda castle
The ruins of the ancient Romanesque castle, which is believed to be the second oldest stone castle in Bohemia, after the Prague Castle, towers over the town of Primda, in the heart of the Kolowrat woods. Chronicler Kosmas states, that in 1121, a certain German knight built a castle here, which was later conquered by Prince Vladislav. The first reference to the castle comes from 1126, when Prince Sobeslav repaired the castle and built a tower as part of the fortification. From that time the royal castle served to defend the Bohemian borders. It also occasionally served as a prison. Its guests even included some Czech rulers who suffered the hardship of the royal prison – e.g., between 1148–1150 and 1161–1173 the future Prince Sobeslav II. was held prisoner here after unsuccessful attempts to overthrow his brother, and in 1249 also the future King Premysl Otakar II.
About painting
The author this painting is František Alexandr Heber (
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F. A. Heber was a merchant and amateur historian, author of heptamerous book 'Böhmens Burgen, Vesten und Bergschlösser' in which first systematically described and documented Czech castles and fortresses.
The picture shows south part of Primda castle. You can find in book Cas hradu v Cechách (
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