weekend miser: a castle with a view.

June 11, 2011

View from the Cesky Krumlov castle

Down near the Czech-Austrian border, lies the almost completely preserved 17th century town of Cesky Krumlov. Because it hit a pretty big recession as a result of some world wars and evacuations of governing families, Cesky Krumlov missed the boat on reconstruction and renovation. Somewhere along the line it got an Italian renaissance makeover, and oddly enough has kept the facade since then. It's quite a lovely town with winding rivers, narrow streets, and aromatic bakeries. And if you've ever been to Florence, Italy it does indeed have a comparable feel. Cars aren't really very practical here, considering the city center is 5 blocks wide at most and the cobble-stoned streets are flooded with pedestrians.

From ornate wall to ornate wall, tourists bombard the streets of Cesky Krumlov to step back in time and experience what was once a very powerful center of Czech power. Atop a hill, overlooking the river, sits the Cesky Krumlov castle. It probably has a more sophisticated name in a history book somewhere, but for all intents and purposes, this will do. Transferred from "royal" family to royal family the castle has served every purpose from glorious regime to silly extraneous castle used for gifting from one obnoxiously wealthy person to another. It's hard to believe such a magnanimous edifice could have at one time been extraneous and empty. I guess in the periods of historical extravagance, castles were just charms on bracelets in an old jewelry boxes somewhere deep within your hope chest. 

Although at this point the castles are running together, this one had bears in the moat -- and for that, it sticks out. We also had a tour guide from Florida, another heavily weighing difference. Anyways, aside from that, the castle theater had essentially been untouched in the periods were the castle was just a toy, and therefore leaving it impeccably well-preserved. So much so, that the Cesky Krumlov castle theater is the oldest and most well-preserved castle theater still in existence today. Our tour guide informed us that most of the theaters burned down because baroque theater called for fireworks and fireworks explode, generally causing fire, in a time when firemen, codes, and extinguishers were non-existent. Not to mention, public safety was thrown by the wayside for the entertainment of the royal family. Nevertheless, it was pretty cool and is still fully operable, hosting performances a couple times a year.

The castle also had some pretty grand views of the tiny city that lay below it. I took this picture because I liked the view, reflection and silhouette. It was one of the only spots within the castle where we were actually allowed to take pictures and I took full advantage. None of my secret, sneaky pictures ever look like a person with perfect eyesight took them, so I have to scrap them. I was thankful I at least got this photo that I kind of like.