Střela Castle

Střela was probably founded by the Bavarians of Strakonice. The first written mention dates back to 1242, but it is uncertain whether it relates directly to the castle. The castle is reliably mentioned since 1318, when it was owned by Bleh ze Střely, which the descendants owned until the end of the fourteenth century.

In 1393 Mikuláš obtained it from Landštejn, whose family was владел estate until the second half of the 15th century. The sons of Nicholas, during the Hussite wars, leaned towards the Hussites. In 1464 the manor was taken over by Lev of Rožmitál and secured a reconstruction of the castle. At the end of the 15th century it was owned by Půta Švihovský z Rýzmberka, in 1514 it was bought by Václav Kraselovský z Kraselova, which started the Renaissance reconstruction. After his death in 1544 he crossed the castle to Wenceslas from Leskovec.

The descendants of Václav of Leskovec later exchanged it with Boubinski of Újezda for oak. During the state uprising, the castle was plundered by the army of Martin de Hoeff- Huerta and the property fell to the crown. In 1623 it was purchased by Libštejnští z Kolovrat, but in 1645 it was burned by Swedish troops. Václav Libstein bequeathed the estate to the Jesuits.

Since 1661, the Jesuit college from Klatov Castle has managed and rebuilt the Baroque castle. After the cancellation of the order in 1773 it belonged to the study fund, in 1777 it was bought by the superintendent Josef Kraus of Strakonice. In the 19th century it belonged to the descendants of Erasma Obst and underwent repair. Several owners were replaced between 1889 and 1948. After the communist coup was nationalized, during the second half of the 20th century there was a boarding school and later an archive. After the Velvet Revolution, it was returned to its owners and inhabited until 2006.

Střela is built-in two-piece, consisting of the above-laid castle core surrounded by a boulder and a moat and the below-laid forefront. A substantial part of the perimeter wall has been preserved from the core, which shows a long development. According to the remains and historical drawings, the core was the palace wing and square living tower. From the Middle Ages also comes a well and cellars cut out in a rock. During the Baroque Jesuits buried part of the ditch and built the Baroque chapel of St. John the Baptist. The castle has a ground plan in the form of a letter D, the other wings close the yard with arcades.

In 2006, Hana Meindl's owner sold the castle to a Latvian businessman who had it lost. The building became the target of thieves and squatters, the roof was damaged by wind. In 2017 it was purchased by Evžen Potnčíř, a presenter of the occupational medicine clinic of the Faculty Hospital of the Royal Vinohrad. He's secured it and is planning a reconstruction. The castle and the remains of the castle remain inaccessible - the area is fenced. It is surrounded by a red marked tourist route from Strakonice to Katowice.