Gutštejn Ruin

Gutštejn is located southeast of Constantine Spa in the district of Tachov, on the island over the Hadovka stream in the forested landscape of the Plac hill. The elevated site at an altitude of 425 meters provided ideal conditions for medieval fortress. Since 1964 the castle has been protected as a cultural monument, its owner is the state and administration is provided by the National Heritage Institute. The castle is freely accessible to the public.

Gutštejn was founded in the first years of the fourteenth century, probably around 1300. The founder was most likely Jetřich of the family of the Gradito, the son of Jetřich of Krasovice. The first explicit mention of the castle is very few - the oldest indirect mention dates back to 1319 from the charter in which the heat abbot Vyshemir rented the village to Jetřich and his son Sezem. The castle has become the home of the masters of Gutštejna and has been in historical records for more than two centuries.

During the Hussite wars there are disputes about the fate of the castle - some of the sources claim that it was conquered by the army of John Zizka of Trocnova, others deny this attack. In the 15th and 16th centuries the castle gradually loses its political and economic influence. Owners build new, better-suited mansions, but they still maintain Gutštejn. This changes in 1549, when Viktor sold it to Hanuso Elpognár from Lower Shenfeld, who attached it to the Toothless Manor. The castle lost its main function. The records show that the castle was still secured by maintenance in 1549 and 1566, but during the 30 years war it was completely abandoned and began to decay.

The castle had a double composition. Only a small cellar carved into a rock was preserved from its buildings. The castle core itself was decomposed behind another ditch. The dominance is the remnants of a square bergfrit with rounded corners, which were entered through the drawbridge. The tower was gradually built up during the fourth building phase and was built in several stages - the beams of the original roof dates back to 1421-1422, while the highest part of the tower dates back to after 1485. As the time of the foundation of the tower is usually mentioned in the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, although some indecies point to the possibility of its construction in the middle of the fourteenth century.

Today in Gutštejn you can see the gradual decline of the medieval fortress. Bergfrit with a characteristic square shape remains the most recognizable building element remaining after the family, which inhabited it for more than two centuries.