Charles castle

It is the only castle built in the South Bohemian region by Charles IV. The castle was founded sometime before 1357, probably as the administrative center of the surrounding royal states, separated from the administration of Hluboká Castle. The oldest written record comes from 1357, when Charles IV. settled disputes over the boundaries between the land property of the Rosenbergs and the goods of the royal castle of Karlshaus. In 1364, Jan of Nasavrky was burgrave at Karlshaus. The demise of the castle dates back to the seventies of the 14th century - while by 1370 the castle was still listed as functional, in 1377 this was probably no longer the case.
The castle, built on a high promontory above the Vltava valley, was surrounded by a moat (with an adjacent embankment). The castle was entered through a moat through a gate. The roughly triangular floor plan was - around the courtyard of the same shape - compactly (multi-storey) built around the perimeter, whereby the palace and the chapel on the north side can be counted among the main residential buildings. On the same side, the fort was adjacent to the castle grounds, bordered at a distance of more than 80 meters by a rampart. Nothing more detailed is known about the development of this area. It cannot be ruled out that a fortified town could have been planned (or existed here).
In September 2019, rescue archaeological research was carried out, which was focused on finding out the power and composition of medieval stratigraphies, on the identification of extinct buildings and on the course and character of the subsoil. The result of this research season is the first archaeological field findings, which suggest that the castle from the 14th century was not the first settlement activity on the site. At the same time, a period material collection was obtained (utility and building ceramics, torsos of stone building elements, animal bones, iron products, etc.). In addition, a detailed geodetic measurement of the preserved above-ground relics was carried out at the castle, and modern prospecting methods were applied in the field in order to get to know the site in as much detail as possible and to direct further field research. The discovery will continue in late summer 2021.

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