Orlik Castle and Chateaux

One of the most distinguished South Bohemian castles, now a chateaux and the family seat of Prince Karel Schwarzenberg. It lies above the surface of Orlik reservoir, which was constructed in the 1960s. For hundreds of years previously it towered high above the river like an eagle's nest. Between 1288 - 1289 this royal property came into the possession of the King's supporter Zavis of Falkenstejn. In 1357 Charles IV awarded Orlik to Detfich of Portic In 1408 Petr Zmrzlik of Svojsfn, the highest-ranking master of the mint, bought the castle. At that time the castle was the first in the Czech Lands to be equipped with a massive protective wall as a defense against artillery fire. Following a catastrophic fire in 1508 the Svamberk family bought the castle and converted it into a chateaux. In 1719 the Schwarzenberg princes took over the chateaux. During the archaeological excavations of 1998-2000, which were carried out by the Archeos company (J. Benes, P. Hruby) rich deposits from the end of the 13th century were discovered and investigated in the chateaux courtyard. This part of the complex was already part of the enclosed and fortified area of the castle from the very beginning of its existence. The moat of the former castle was also investigated and yielded one of the most representative collections of archaeological finds from a South Bohemian castle. The up to 7m deep deposit dating from the 14th century to the present was particularly worthy of note. A gold ducat of Sigmund Luxemburg that came to light in a 15th century layer is used by the Archeos Company as its logo.