Lemberk Castle

Lemberk Castle occupies a rocky outcrop overlooking the Panenský potok stream valley near Lvová. The site combines medieval fortress elements with Renaissance and Baroque architecture, reflecting its long history of modifications and adaptations.

The most intact part of the original medieval castle is a cylindrical bergfried tower, approximately 8.5 meters in external diameter. This defensive tower features a polygonal base creating a diamond-shaped interior floor above the courtyard level, with the basement located below ground and inaccessible. The tower’s entrance was originally positioned on the northeast side, high above the courtyard, requiring a ladder for access. Later, during the Baroque period, a ground-level doorway was added featuring a segmental vault. Within the tower, a circular vaulted chamber is found at the original entrance level, connected by a staircase embedded within the wall thickness that leads to upper floors. The uppermost level may have had a battlement walkway accessible through a pointed arch doorway. The tower today is crowned by a metal dome-shaped roof dating to 1754, crafted in the Baroque style.

Archaeological investigations have confirmed that a rectangular palace once stood on the southern side of the castle complex, though this structure no longer remains due to Renaissance-era rebuilding. The castle’s fortifications were enhanced after the Thirty Years’ War by the addition of two bastions constructed by the Bredas family.

The Renaissance chateau portion includes a wing built shortly after 1550, later expanded with a second floor in the early 1600s. Inside, visitors can find the richly decorated “Hall of Fables,” distinguished by a wooden coffered ceiling illustrating scenes from Aesop’s fables painted around 1610. The main entrance into the castle complex is an early Baroque two-part gate leading into an enclosed area. Access to the core of the castle is gained through a Renaissance portal set into a tower topped by a shingled onion dome. This tower’s lower walls are decorated with sgraffito rustication, a technique involving scratched plasterwork creating a textured visual effect, while the upper floor was originally framed with half-timbered construction.

Most of the castle’s windows are rectangular and feature ornate stucco frames from the late 17th century. The ground-floor facades are adorned with stucco pilasters that once held portrait busts, indicating an emphasis on decorative grandeur. The west wing contains four rooms with 17th-century stucco ceiling decorations, carefully restored in the early 20th century by the artist Jan Dukát. Among these rooms, a dining hall preserves a coffered ceiling illustrating motifs from Aesop’s fables.

In the north wing, the core space is a barrel-vaulted hall decorated with stucco cartouches and ceiling paintings on canvas. Sixteen frescoes portraying scenes related to the Thirty Years’ War hang on the walls here. These paintings were unfortunately damaged by overpainting in the 19th century but still testify to the castle’s historical narrative. Adjacent to the bergfried stands the rectangular Chapel of the Holy Spirit, suiting the castle’s religious functions. This chapel includes side oratories and is lavishly decorated with early Baroque stuccoes featuring both ornamental and figural designs. Its ceiling paintings of Christ’s Ascension and the Assumption of Mary date from the 19th century, created over earlier Baroque frescoes.

The castle complex also contains remnants of a former farmyard, now in ruin, and a Baroque well situated within the courtyard. A surrounding park includes two fountains dating from the 17th and 18th centuries, adding to the site’s historical ambiance. Nearby lies the Bredovský letohrádek, or Breda summerhouse, and a protected avenue of linden trees leading toward the neighboring villages of Markvartice and Markvart, which traces a historical route connected to the castle’s origins.

Beneath the castle is a network of sandstone cellars and a 35-meter tunnel, historically used for mining iron ore. These cellars were also utilized during the 17th century for storing wine and housing brewing equipment. On the castle grounds, visitors can find Baroque sculptures and mythological statues attributed to the sculptor Matthias Bernard Braun. Over the historic “Zdislava’s spring,” a water source of local significance, a pavilion was constructed in 1862.

Today, Lemberk Castle’s surviving structures reflect the layered architectural and historical phases spanning from medieval fortress through Renaissance noble residence to Baroque refinement, preserving the story of its evolving function and significance through centuries.