Okoř Castle

This place was really Cool! A really large Castle ruin, only 17 km northwest of Prague. I had some time today so, so caught a bus and only 45 minutes later I arrived in the very small village of Okoř. (pronounced: Oh-kor-zha)

The Village of Okoř is located in a small valley carved out by the Zákolany brook located near to the small town of Buštehrád. Okoř is first mentioned in 1227 as a property of the St George Monastery(in Prague). Now days, it is a town of just under 100 inhabitants, but what a great Castle Ruin.

The castle was built in here in 1359 in Gothic style by Franitšek Rokycansky, a wealthy burgher of Prague's Old Town. This was highly unusual since most castles in those times were built by noblemen.

In the 15th and 16th centuries The Okoř Castle was expanded and rebuilt twice; in 1494 into late Gothic and then in 1590 into Renaissance style. In the 17th century the castle reverted to ownership by The Jesuits. During the Thirty Year’s War it was heavily damaged but once again restored, this time in the Baroque style. In the late 18th Century, the Castle was left deserted when the Jesuit order was discontinued in Bohemia.