Karlštejn Castle was founded in 1348 by the Czech king and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV on a rocky limestone spur close to where a deep valley opens onto the floodplain of the Berounka river. According to the National Heritage Institute, it holds an exceptional position among Czech castles.[1]
Purpose and construction
Charles IV had the castle built to house the royal treasures, above all the collections of holy relics, and the coronation jewels of the Empire.[1] By 1355 he was already staying at the castle, supervising the completion of the building and the decoration of the interiors, chiefly the chapels. Construction ended in 1365, when the Chapel of the Holy Cross in the Great Tower was consecrated.[1]
The new building advanced in stages, in separately usable structures with their own fortifications, joined by a common outer wall. The burgrave's residence with the Well Tower was built first, followed by the palace with the smaller tower, and the Great Tower completed the work.[1] By 1355 at the latest, the original one-storey palace, which included the Tower of St Nicholas, was already in use.[1]
Chapels and chapter
Around the turn of 1356 and 1357 the emperor had the finished smaller tower adapted for the Karlštejn collegiate chapter, founded on 27 March 1357. The living chamber on the second floor became the Church of the Virgin Mary. The adjoining oratory became a treasury chapel, later called the Chapel of St Catherine, intended for the private treasure of the Passion of Christ and for a collection of relics. It was decorated with inlays of precious stones and wall paintings.[1]
At the beginning of the 1360s Charles IV decided to keep the imperial coronation treasure at the castle. To protect it, a rectangular chamber with a fireplace was fitted out on the second floor of the Great Tower, then still under construction. The Chapel of the Holy Cross, consecrated on 9 February 1365, has inlays of precious stones in the lower part of its walls and, above them, wooden coffered panelling with 130 panels from the workshop of Master Theodoric in Prague. On the northern altar wall there is a triptych by Tommaso da Modena.[1]
Later history and appearance
At the start of the Hussite Wars the Bohemian Crown Jewels were brought to Karlštejn for safety. With short interruptions they remained there for almost 200 years.[1] After 1480 the castle was altered in the late Gothic style, and in the last quarter of the 16th century in the Renaissance style. It acquired its present appearance in the last rebuilding at the end of the 19th century, carried out in the spirit of purism under the architect Josef Mocker.[1]
The stepped arrangement of the buildings has been preserved. The complex rises from the lowest parts, namely the outer ward, the Well Tower and the burgrave's palace, to the five-storey Imperial Palace and the Marian Tower. At the highest point of the rocky spur stands the Great Tower, 60 m tall, with massive fortifications.[1]