BEZDĚZ CASTLE
 THE ROYAL CASTLE OF BEZDĚZ WAS FOUNDED IN 1264 BY THE ‘IRON AND GOLD’ KING, PŘEMYSL OTTOKAR II. IN 1279, OTTOKAR’S SON WENCESLAS II AND HIS MOTHER, QUEEN KUNIGUNDA WERE IMPRISONED HERE. AFTER 1627 THE CASTLE WAS THE PROPERTY OF THE WALLENSTEIN FAMILY. A MONASTERY FOR THE BENEDICTINE ORDER OF MONTSERRAT WAS ESTABLISHED HERE IN 1661, WHICH CONTINUED UNTIL 1785, WHEN IT WAS CLOSED DOWN IN THE COURSE OF REFORMS INSTITUTED BY EMPEROR JOSEPH II OF AUSTRIA IN 1785. FROM 1831 TO 1836, THE CASTLE SERVED AS INSPIRATION FOR WORKS BY THE POET KAREL HYNEK MÁCHA, INCLUDING HIS FAMOUS POEM, ‘MAY’.