Kokořín Castle

This romantic medieval landmark towers on a sandstone rock above deep forests, and the entire Kokořínsko region is named after it. The castle in the valley of the Pšovka river, not far from Mělník, was founded after 1320 and was probably built by the Prague burgrave Hynek Berka of Dubá. From 1544 it is listed as abandoned, and Emperor Ferdinand the Second even classified it among the so-called accursed castles, which were not allowed to be maintained so that their location could not threaten the monarch's power. The ruin was bought in 1894 by the Prague businessman Václav Špaček, and his son Jan had it restored in the Neo-Gothic style between 1911 and 1916, according to the design of the architect Eduard Sochor. During the tour, you can climb the 38-meter-high cylindrical tower with a view into the wooded valley. In the palace, there is a memorial to Karel Hynek Mácha and an exhibition of Czech Romantic art of the 19th century.