Czech Republic · 14th century
Střekov Castle (Czech: hrad Střekov, German: Burg Schreckenstein) is a ruined castle in Ústí nad Labem in the Central Bohemian Highlands in the Czech Republic. It is perched atop a cliff above the Elbe river. It was built in the 14th century to protect the waterway and collect duties on transported goods, and is renowned for its impressive views.
It has enchanted a variety of visiting artists, most notably Goethe, Richard Wagner, and Karel Hynek Mácha. The castle is especially well known from the painting by Ludwig Richter called Passing the Schreckenstein (Überfahrt am Schreckenstein) which hangs in the Galerie Neue Meister in Dresden.
The castle is perched atop a steep, monolithic, clinkstone rock that rises steeply to 100 metres above the Elbe and is the symbol of North Bohemia. Large parts of the castle have survived or been rebuilt, including the bergfried, palas and castle walls.
Text adapted from “Střekov Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Střekov Castle ranks #1,754 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #38 of the 243 mapped in Czech Republic. Founded c. 1310, it is older than 60% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 14th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,873 times in the last 60 days, more than 77% of the atlas. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Ústí nad Labem, 2 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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