History

The castle was founded in the 1260s  by King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who constructed the castle in order to guard  trade routes and to counter the expansionism of neighbouring family lines. After the King’s death in Marchfeld the castle became the place of imprisonment of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and his mother Queen Kunhuta. In the 14^th century the castle was taken in pledge by the local aristocracy, with Charles IV attempting to regain the royal property. The  castle’s religious function is borne out by the residence of a hermit in the 1640s.  The castle eventually fell into the hands of Albrecht of Wallenstein, who initially intended to construct a baroque mansion here. This idea was later dropped and Augustinian monks were invited to reside. The castle was promised to the Benedictines from Montserrat after the Battle of Lützen. These came to Bezděz in 1661 and repaired a chapel and one of the buildings to make habitation possible. The Virgin of Montserrat was taken to Bezděz in 1635 and was brought up to the castle with pomp accompanied by a magnificent procession.  The statue drew crowds of pilgrims, who travelled far to see it; it also inspired Countess Anna of Wallenstein to build 15 baroque chapels. At the castle there was probably a resident community, which gradually grew from two brethren to a community with up to 24 monks. The monks assembled wealth which was taken during the invasion of Prussian troops. The monastery was dissolved during the reign of Josef II in 1785,  on the basis of his regulation of 1782 and the equipment was partly transferred to the Emmaus Monastery, from where the monks also went to the local monastery, and partly to  churches in the vicinity. The statue of the Virgin of Montserrat was taken by Father Jan Lutt to the Church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle in Doksy in 1786, where the Bezděz castle chapel organ  was later installed. In the 19^th century the castle became the target of treasure hunters, who broke into the Benedictine crypt and strewed the remains of the dead monks therein found around the castle grounds. The bones of monks were collected and stored at the Church of St. Giles. The Czech Tourist Club later took over the dilapidated castle and today it is under the administration of the National Heritage Institute.