Towns of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Czech Press Agency photo, 1987

 

"Hardly any remains have been preserved of the original 13th-century castle, which stood on the southern part of a rocky outcrop. Similarly, only the torso of the late Gothic reconstruction of the castle and the town fortifications has been preserved. The sections to resist adaptation the longest were the eastern and western wings of the castle, constructed alongside a narrow courtyard. They were connected on the north side by a transverse wing containing a spacious hall. The courtyard was enclosed on the southern side by a fourth wing. On the north-eastern corner of the east wing there was a large square tower protecting the residential part of the castle.

 

All that was preserved of the interiors after a major reconstruction at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries were a few rooms on the ground floor. They included a late Gothic hall in the west wing with net vaulting with terracotta ribs, on the intersections of which are escutcheons with Šternberk stars (dating from 1470-1480). Stonemasons from the Prague Castle workshop were also involved in the creation of the unique architecture. One of them was Wendel Rosskopf (who also worked in the nearby towns of Tábor and Soběslav), who in ca. 1515 constructed a hall on the ground floor that is still preserved today. The vaulting depends on a central sandstone pillar in the shape of a tree with rough-hewn branches. Around 1520 a sandstone portal was added on the southern wall of this room, on the cornice of which an escutcheon with a Šternberk star has been carved.

 

After the reconstruction under the Šternberks at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle did not undergo any major reconstruction until the end of the 16th century, when it passed into the hands of Petr Vok of Rožmberk. Under his ownership the castle took on a completely new appearance. In the 1570s the rooms of the former castle – known as the "old castle" – were pulled down or adapted, and another section, the "new castle", was created. Under the direction of the Italian master-builder Baldassare Maggi of Arogno, a Renaissance castle was constructed to the north of the former castle, based on a square ground plan around a small courtyard. A moat was dug in the direction of the town, and it was possible to cross this by means of a drawbridge (later replaced by a stone bridge) and enter the castle through the main gateway, above which was the northern façade of the castle tower with a clock that struck the hours. The reconstructed storeys of the old castle and the rooms in the new castle were decorated, furnished and painted at great expense. Of the painters who were invited, the most extensive work was done by Gabriel de Blonde and Vilém and Bartoloměj Jelínek, while most of the stucco decoration (for example in the courtroom) was done by Antonio Melana. Both the private and the public rooms in the castle, for example the armoury and the courtroom, were richly decorated with figurative and ornamental painting. The late Gothic passageway known as the Deer Passage was reconstructed in the Renaissance style with groined vaulting. Above it on the first floor the representative Rožmberk Hall was built, also known as the wedding hall of Petr Vok. The walls were richly decorated with paintings (such as the five high courts of the kingdom of Bohemia and figures from the Old Testament). Most of the rooms and corridors on the ground floor of the new castle had groined vaulting, but only part of the first floor was vaulted. A considerable amount was also spent on external improvements to the castle. The walls of the reconstructed late Gothic buildings were decorated with painting while the exterior of the new castle was adorned with sgraffito.

 

The new residence was complemented by improvements in the adjacent area and facilities providing the required lifestyle. Running water was plumbed into the castle, a pharmacy was set up, and gardens were laid out. In addition to the castle itself, other buildings belonged to the estate, mostly of an agricultural nature and the majority of them in the castle grounds. A granary already existed in the late-15th century, and in the 16th century a brewery was built adjoining the town walls. In 1586 Petr Vok purchased the building known as Hozlaur House, which had been built in the castle grounds in the mid-16th century, from the original owners for his own use.

 

Issues relating to the location and appearance of the church buildings situated near the castle (the church of St. George and the church of the Brethren) have still to be finally resolved.

 

The succeeding centuries saw various changes carried out to the castle interiors, where the different owners had alterations made reflecting current styles (Empire, Rococo, Neo-Gothic, and so on), and also reconstruction, demolition of unsuitable premises, and construction of new buildings in the castle grounds. In 1690 the brewery was reconstructed, with further alterations carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries, and in 1759 Donato Morazzi undertook alterations to the Hozlaur House. In 1776 a riding school was built in the castle grounds (converted in 1864 in the Romantic Gothic style). In the early 1790s the south wing of the castle was demolished along with the gatehouse and the chapel of St. Ludmila, parts of the fortifications were gradually pulled down, a park in the Empire style was laid out, and so on."