People around the world know Czech Republic for it's castles and fortresses. There are so many close to where Yemi and I live that we had to show them off when Yawah came.
Spilberk castle is interesting because it's in the center of Brno (Czech's second largest city) but isn't visible when driving to find it because it is on the top of wooded hill. We had driving directions but probably circled the castle 2-3 times before we realized we were there.
We left the car at the base of the hill and then it's about a 7 minute walk to the top. Along the way there are great scenic views of Brno.
Spilberk holds a lot of historical significance for this city. The first records of it's existence go back to the 13th century. And before it became a museum and national monument it was used as barracks by the Germans in WWII.
We took a tour of the casemates/prison which has been preserved to show the conditions for prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries. The tour creeped us out a little bit; it's self guided so we wandered around the prison tunnels just the three of us; until we saw some bats. That ended our tour pretty abruptly. The most interesting fact for me was that prisoners were only given warm meals 2 days a week. The other five they lived on cold bread alone. Makes the three squares they get in American jails seem like a luxury.
They have a great detailed history of this castle and Brno city at www.spilberk.cz
The admission for the museum and the casemates is very affordable about $8 per person or 140 Korona.
Your pics are amazing! You make me want to travel!
ReplyDeleteThanks! All the travel and sight seeing is the best part of living over here:)
ReplyDeleteBrianna