Špilberk Castle

Špilberk Castle (Czech: hrad Špilberk; German: Spielberg, locally Špilas) is a castle on the hilltop in Brno, Southern Moravia. Its construction began as early as the first half of the 13th century by the Přemyslid kings and completed by King Ottokar II of Bohemia.

From a major royal castle established around the mid-13th century, and the seat of the Moravian margraves in the mid-14th century, it was gradually turned into a huge baroque citadel considered the harshest prison in the Austrian Empire, and then into barracks. This prison had always been part of the Špilberk fortress and is frequently referenced by Fabrice Del Dongo, the main protagonist in Stendhal's historical novel The Charterhouse of Parma.

Text adapted from “Špilberk Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Špilberk Castle ranks #396 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #10 of the 200 mapped in Czech Republic. Founded 1300, it is older than 63% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 825 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 10,159 times in the last 60 days, more than 93% of the atlas. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Brno, 1 km away. See how Czech Republic compares in the castle statistics.

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