Cuknštejn fortress
If you walk through one picturesque valley called Tereziino near Nové Hrady, you will come to a fortress which, thanks to its grandeur, is only a step away from the designation of a manor castle. More daring individuals even talk about the castle. This is Cuknštejn, which was bought in 2000 by the Prague businessman Tomáš Pek on the verge of his doom. The motive was not to build a hotel here and thus benefit from his purchase. His interest became the fortress itself and its restoration, which is really thriving. The owner works here in such a way as to get as close as possible to the original method of construction and repair of interior and exterior spaces, ie sensitively to the time in which the monument was created.
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Interesting facts Cuknštejn fortress
It was in the last two decades of the 15th century. The owners changed here almost like night and day. One of them was the official of Prague Castle, Oldřich Pouzar from Michnice, and this pearl belonged to him for more than fifty years, until the middle of the 16th century. The longest reigning family in the fortress were the Buquoys, who acquired it from Emperor Ferdinand II. as a gift for monetary assistance in the field of warfare with the external enemies of the Habsburg estates.
The building has four wings, two-storey, with a small inner courtyard. The predominant style is Gothic with small elements of the Renaissance and Baroque. The walled circular moat and the octagonal tower from the 16th century emphasize the strength of the landmark. The big surprise of the restoration of the beautiful homestead in the almost flat terrain was the finding of the inner chapel. By removing the rubble, frescoes with religious themes emerged from the walls and a space came to light, which testifies to the only possible use.
Author: Marcela Horká, Vlastimil Hloupý