Pecka castle – connection between music and travels

I am always happy to visit castles and palaces. I have my favourites in both Poland and the Czech Republic. Today I invite you to the object, which in the past belonged to the composer and traveller – Kryštof Haranta from Polžice and Bezdružice, to whom he also owes his development – the Pecka castle.

Pecka castle – localisation

Pecka is a town located close to the Czech Giant Mountains. It belongs administratively to the county whose capital is Hradec Kralove. It is about 50 km from the Polish border and 40 km from the capital of the county (region). You can leave the car near Market Square and walk to the castle on foot.

Sightseeing

Visiting the Pecka castle takes about an hour, but Pecka is also the Market Square with an interesting confectionery (Zlata Pecka) and the church of St. Bartholomew. The castle can be visited from May to September from 9.00-17.00, April and October 9.00-16.00. The castle is closed on Mondays. The admission ticket costs 80 crowns and a discount of 50 crowns. The courtyard, the castle interiors and the underground are open to the public.

History

Initially, the Gothic castle of the sixteenth century was rebuilt into a representative Renaissance castle. The first mentions of the building in this place come from the fourteenth century. The most famous and significant owner of the castle was Kryštof Harant from Polžice and Bezdružic (1564-1621), a famous traveller, writer and musician. In his travels, he visited many places (Holy Land, Cyprus, Venice and others). These days these are not impressive travel achievements, but let’s remember that we are talking about the 17th century.

The castle burned down in 1830. In later years, with the government’s permission, he was dismantled and fell into disrepair. It was only almost a century later that it was taken over by the village government and efforts were made to rebuild it.

Interiors

In the castle interiors, we can see the owner’s figure – Kryštof Haranta from Polžice and Bezdružice and an exhibition dedicated to the nearby Krkonoše villages. We will find historical furniture, beehives, posters, music instruments or a model of the castle in times of magnificence. There will also be fragments of the castle decorations found during archaeological research.

At zero level, we can see the castle kitchen with equipment. An interesting thing is a chest, which is in the picture below. The guide told us that it was used to transport people who, due to alcohol overdose, were not able to go alone.

Underground

In the basement of the castle, we can visit a large number of rooms. We start our visit to the room, which presents the tools of torture from the period of splendour of the castle. We have there various stages of the torture process depicted depending on the “hardness” of the interviewed person. The basements under the castle are spacious and interesting.

We can see there rooms related to the everyday life of the castle and the owner’s travels. The last room on the tour is the “bathroom”. It is said that the owner, inspired by visits to Arab countries, took care of hygiene very much (it was not so popular in his time).

Surroundings

An interesting city that is worth joining during one trip is, for example, Jičín. It is also worth visiting a nearby hospital Kuks. Pecka lies at the foot of the Giant Mountains and in good weather you can see them from the castle. There is definitely a lot to choose from.

Worth to visit?

Definitely worth it! I like small towns, and those that are associated with a castle or a palace have an even richer story. This is not a place where you could spend the whole day, but in combination with other interesting places in the area can be a good plan for a trip!

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