Návarov

Návarov

The ruins of Návarov Castle are situated on a prominent rock promontory above the confluence of the Kamenince River and the Zlatník Stream. The castle core itself occupies the end of the promontory, on a raised rock at its tip. Given the size and shape of this rock, it has acquired a hexagonal shape and its orientation to the promontory is transverse. The first written mention of the castle dates from 1365, but archaeological sources place its construction as early as the first half of the 14th century. Entry was possible through a roundhouse gate, after which a pocket of the barrier survives. The subsequent development of the castle core was more complex. Today, the remains of two buildings are visible. The western narrower side of the castle core layout was filled entirely with one of these buildings. Partly two rooms are preserved here, vaulted with a cylindrical arch. These were built in two phases. The building to the east was two-bay, with the possibility that the narrow northern bay may be younger. This building survives more fragmentarily and the extent on its west side in particular is unknown. There is a very rugged area to the south-west and further development cannot be ruled out here. Below the castle core proper, on a lowered step of the rock face, on its western side, a lean-to has been built. One wall has survived, defining an area approximately 15x10 m in size. It is also a part of the castle belonging to its earliest construction phase. If it did not have a forecourt at this time, this area could have served as the economic and operational base of the castle. The parkland and moat was situated in front of the line of the south wall of the core and the annexe. Nowadays, the eastern part of it has been filled in. Other defensive structures in a similar pattern to the wall and moat were situated just a little further south. The rampart is still preserved between two rockeries. A small fragment of masonry can be found on the western large boulder (however, it is questionable how much masonry is now hidden below ground level). It is thought that there may have been a tower-like structure here, which could have controlled the whole area to the west in front of the castle. Again, the moat is backfilled in its eastern part. This fortification is then followed by the forecourt, which today has no visible trace of any development. The castle was captured by the royal troops in 1469. This is thought to have led to the extension of its fortifications to the outer line. It is a rampart with two semi-circular bastions open to the inside. The wall runs from the large rock outcropping in the south towards the north-east, where the first bastion is located, and then continues along the rock barrier, where it is topped by the last bastion at the end. In front of the rampart there is then a massive ditch which ends at the rock outcrop to the west, on which there was an unspecified structure.


In 1380 the castle belonged to Henry of Wallenstein. Around 1397 the castle was acquired by Jan Čúch of Zásada, who was a courtier of King Václav IV. His son Petr, who acquired the castle from his father, remained faithful to the Catholic faith during the Hussite wars, but he suffered a lot because of the war, lost weight, went into debt and eventually lost the castle. He regained it only under George of Poděbrady in the 1540s. However, his daughter Johanna, due to debts, gave the castle and some other estates to Jiří of Poděbrady.


During the Thirty Years' War in 1643, the castle was captured and occupied by the Swedes, who swarmed around the area. Therefore, in 1644, after they left and the castle was reoccupied, the governor of Prague decided to destroy it. After about 20 years, the material was used to build a nearby castle, which was named after the castle. It can be assumed that part of the ditches were filled in just in connection with the destruction of the castle, possibly during its extraction as a source of building material.

Sources:
https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/hrad-navarov-15119695
cs.wikipedia.org
www.hrady.cz
www.stredovek.com


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