Czech Republic · 13th century
The ruins of Lichnice Castle (also: Lichtenburk Castle) are on the edge of the Iron Mountains, near the Czech village of Podhradí, in the municipality of Třemošnice, about 15 kilometres (9 mi) east of Čáslav.
The castle was probably constructed as a royal base in the first half of the 13th century. It was first mentioned in 1261, when it was in possession of Smil of Ronow, who called himself "Smil of Lichtenburg" and thereby created the "von Lichtenburg" family.
The castle had a triangular floor plan with two residential towers. In the 14th century, alterations were made, and it was reacquired by the Bohemian Crown in 1410. It was conquered in 1421, during the Hussite Wars, and besieged unsuccessfully in 1428.
In 1490, the castle and estate of Lichtenburg were acquired by the Trčka of Lípa family, who rebuilt the castle in a late Gothic style.
The edifice lost its importance at the end of the 16th century, and the fortifications were dismantled. By 1700, it was already described as a ruin.
Text adapted from “Lichnice Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Lichnice Castle ranks #3,627 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #96 of the 243 mapped in Czech Republic. Founded c. 1225, it is older than 73% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,130 times in the last 60 days, more than 54% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 20,000 visitors in 2022. 7 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Pardubice, 22 km away. It is one of the 189 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Bohemia. See how Czech Republic compares in the castle statistics.
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