Houska Castle is a thirteenth century castle in the middle of a large unpopulated area in Bohemia. It’s only an hour’s drive north from Prague which makes it perfect for a day trip if you don’t mind visiting the gates of hell.

In the thirteenth century¹, Bohemian rulers built this castle to as an administration centre. It changed hands several times and is one of the best preserved castles from its time. The Czechs have it on their list of cultural monuments, such is its importance to their history².

We went in summer when the sounds of a Middle Ages re-enactment filled the air. The trek up to the castle is a leafy passage through the forest ending in a small opening in front of the building. To our left, the tree line stretched out towards the sky. The dappled sunlight invites you to explore the hidden caverns in the undergrowth. To our right, the small courtyard in front of Houska castle was full of medieval traders selling wares.

The current Renaissance features date back to one of the many renovations^{2 3}.

As I wrote in my article about Czech renaissance, this style was in vogue for a time. Many castles or stately homes in Czechia are now in the renaissance style.

When I visited I could see the renaissance facade needed restoration. Unlike the patterns on Litomyšl château (which I’ve written about), the patterns here are simple ones. They look, in fact, like a claw mark. This was the first sign that all is not right with this castle.

Inside, the building surrounds a central courtyard. If you visit in summer, the re-enactments of parts of the history add colour to the place. With a couple of people cooking in a large copper pot, the sights and smells of the place took us back centuries. As we wandered the side rooms and climbed up to the top floor, I noticed people were talking in soft tones. It’s as if some were afraid of something.

And maybe they were.

This castle was neither built in an existing town nor along a trade route^{4 5}. It has no fresh water source – a vital ingredient for any fortress – and is in the middle of swamps and thick forests^{3 6 7 8}.

So why was it built here?

According to local legend dating back to 878⁵, the castle was built over a bottomless pit known as the Gates to Hell. It was reputed to be so deep that no one could see the bottom of it. Reports of winged creatures flying out of it and of half-man half-animal hybrids further fuelled speculation that this was no normal gateway^{5 6 7}. It is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in the world⁶.

Local legend states that all prisoners on death row were promised a pardon if they agreed to be lowered into the cave and reported what they saw. The first man who was lowered in started screaming. They pulled him up and saw his hair turned white in the few moments he’d been down there^{6 7}.  They took him to an asylum where he died two days later, still screaming⁶. We don’t know what he saw down there.

The castle seems to have been built to keep things in; many of the fortifications face inwards, rather than defensively outwards^{5 9}. This curious architectural quirk further fuelled these stories. The castle’s chapel, furthermore, is built right on top of the Gates to Hell themselves. The walls of the chapel are covered in old paintings, almost all of them feature demons or dragons, which is not usual in a place of worship⁹. Neither is the image of a left-handed female centaur. Apart from being a pagan creature, left-handedness was considered satanic in those days – raising more and more eyebrows ^{10 7}. One curious point is that some of the paintings date back to before the castle was built³!

The chapel, well-lit and small, doesn’t give any indication of the horrors below. The paintings on the walls have faded with time and I’m not sure I would have noticed the various creatures if I were not looking out for them.

In the 1930s, with war raging across the continent, the Nazis took possession of the castle and started conducting fringe science experiments there⁶. They also performed inhumane experiments on prisoners of war⁷. After the war, the remains of three assassinated German soldiers were found in the castle courtyard but it is not known what they were shot for, and when.

The rest of the place is preserved and shows off various chapters of the place’s history. There weren’t many other stories the guide shared with us but like any haunted place, the castle now has many other rumours associated with it including⁶:

1. A large headless horse running towards the castle, blood gushing from its neck.
2. Ghostly people in a chain gang shuffling their way to the castle. Each person sports a horrific injury and many are carrying body parts.
3. Dogs behave strangely in the castle courtyard.
4. Whispered voices coming from the chapel when no one is there. Sometimes this is also strange moaning or voices speaking many languages.
5. On the third floor, a young woman in a white dress is seen.
6. Objects move of their own accord.
7. The hunting lodge is possessed by two dark figures who sometimes whisper threats of murdering young girls.
8. A dark-robed figure appears in the cellar and disappears as he tries to go up the stairs.

Share this with someone who would never visit the Gates of Hell themselves!

References

1. The Castle; Hrady.cz; 2006-0-03; (Article in Czech) [↩]
2. The Castle; Monument Catalogue; National Monument Institute (Retrieved 2018-08-20) [↩][↩]
3. Castle Houska: the most secretive castle in the Czech Republic; iDnes.cz; 2005-08-05; (Article in Czech) [↩][↩][↩]
4. At Houska Castle, they discovered this room several times; iDNES.cz; 2014-12-05; (Article in Czech) [↩]
5. Houska castle – Gates of Hell; Hrady.cz; 2003-03-04; (Article in Czech) [↩][↩][↩][↩]
6. Houska Castle, Ghost Story, 2016[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
7. Gate to hell at castle Houska; McGee Ghost Tours; (Retrieved 2017-04-12) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
8. Houska Castle – Questions; Hrady.cz; 2003-04-28; (Article in Czech) [↩]
9. Houska – Questions; Hrady.cz; 2003-04-28; (Article in Czech) [↩][↩]
10. Castle Houska; Hrady.cz; 2006-0-03; (Article in Czech) [↩]

Remember: links were correct at time of publication.