Description of the castle

Templars chose a rocky promontory above a deep valley of the river Jihlava as a place for the castle. Two sides of the promontory are flowed by the river Jihlava around and a ravine with a stream forms one side. The only possible access was from the south from the village Jamolice. It was hindered by many built fortifications. The oldest heart of the castle is from the end of 13th century. It was build at the very top of the promontory before 1298. Its shape is a closed irregular pentagon with rounded corners about 40 x 30 metres. It was orientated by a blunt edge to an access road. Encircling walls were about 2,2m thick and about 12m high. The heart was completely built over except two small yards serving to lighting the inner room. There were nearly no openings in the walls. There was probably no tower in the castle. The heart looked compact and unconquerable. The only entrance was from the northern side. A part of the opening with wall pockets for a wooden latch is preserved. Visitors who were coming into the castle had to go around it while defenders could follow them. The heart is practically illegible due to lots of ruins. It arose gradually and it was adjusted with time. Inner spaces had plane ceilings, but there were some vaulted ceilings as well. Few ribs were found together with gouges in masonry. The rooms were small; some of them were less than 2 x 2 m. There is a well (or water tank maybe) at the entrance to the heart. It is dug out in a rock and its depth is 7,5m nowadays. It should be a well 500 cubits deep according to legends with a secret corridor and a room with a treasure of the templars. The well was totally filled up by the management of the estate for security reasons in 1883. It was probably 14 meters deep at that time. Some volunteers cleaned it around 2000. It is not sure if it is a well or a water tank for rainy water only. It is interesting it was placed at the highest spot of the castle. The heart was protected by another circular wall around. It is not known if it was a component of the original structure from the end of the 13th century. Other buildings gradually built up the space between the circular wall and the heart. BODY2016_celk3

The most preserved building is on the northern side. It had three floors with wooden beam ceilings. The building had no brick partitions but it is possible there were wooden partitions only. Narrow windows lighted up the inner space. The interior is filled up by debris from the bigger part. Even newer narrow longitudinal wing was built up later. A part of barrel vault of a passage from a yard is preserved from it. This narrower part is wholly filled up by debris. It is supposed that this part has a farming character due to lack of light. There could be stalls here for example. There was another building adjoin this building opposite to the entrance to the core of the castle. But it preserved in a form of terraneous ramparts. Another building is on the southern side. A wall with the height of two floors is preserved. It has three big windows with pointed arches and wide-open reveals. Due to the way of masonry the wooden cabin was inside. This part of building is older and it was built up by one floor later. A big hall with at least four big windows with the height of two floors could be here. Stone panel on the opposite wall is explained as the remains of a fireplace in the corner of the room. The building was probably a luxury living palace. The extension of the building is probably from the 15th century due to using bricks. There was a gate between the building and other one at the western side with a tower. There are only remnants of the tower while the neighbouring building is totally destroyed. A well preserved pillar gate probably from the half of the 15th century is an impressive component of the castle. It is a mighty pillar 2,5 m thick erected between the core and another unpreserved building. Arched passage is only 1,7 m high; the rest is filled up by loam. Other building with a character of a covered passage was standing between the southern and the northern palace along a wall at the western side. It could be made of clay and wood due to the remains of overburnt daubing. There was another circle of moat wall around. It is preserved especially near the entrance tower and at the western side. The wall was strengthened at the side wall of the western building forming mighty pillar sustaining a bridge from the northern building. The castle hill was separated by nearly 25 m deep trench to make an access more difficult. Wooden bridge leading to the gate at the southern palace was set over the trench. A mighty gable wall was build at the access road as a reaction against possible artillery thread from a higher neighbouring hill. It was built probably around 1470. The wall is 5 m thick, 70 m long and approximately 11 m high. It is well preserved and it looks very mighty. There are remains of a guardroom on the highest place. The wall had been never finished.  It is perceptible by saw tooth ending in a gape opposite to the entrance gate. Probably another tower should be standing here. There is another smaller trench 9 m wide and 5,5 m deep in front of the wall spanned by another wooden bridge. The gable was continued by a thinner wall at a lowest place on the eastern side according to terraneous remnants. Maybe some bastion could be here as well or other buildings. But due to a good access they were dismantled to be used as a building material. There is a low hill in front of a trench at the gable wall with terraneous remnants of probably a forward bastion. The hill is separated from follow-up neck by mighty trench in rock 20 m wide and over 10 m deep. Terraneous remains of some small buildings are visible to an edge of a forest in a direction to the village Jamolice. There is a 2 m high rampart with shallow trench in a half of the way to the edge of the forest. Perished village belonging to the castle should be here. Due to an absence of an archaeological survey and a mighty layer of soil the today knowledge are limited and they come out from terraneous unevenness and preserved relics of walls. Plastically decorated fragments of ceramic floor tiles, fragments of tiles richly ornamented tile stoves, pieces of ceramic tracery, vaulting ribs and linings document the luxury equipment of the castle. The castle had roofs covered with gutter tiles and ceramic tiles were used as well.

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