Kumburk

A mighty castle ruin at 642 m above the Jičín basin — founded by the Vartemberks before 1325, slighted by imperial order in 1658, its restored tower now a lookout.

Kumburk was one of the strong castles of the north-east: founded by the Vartemberk family before 1325 on a wooded cone that stands a full 300 m over the Jičín basin, held through the Hussite wars, and finally demolished in 1658 by imperial order — the Habsburgs preferred their potential enemy bases pre-ruined. What survives is generous as ruins go: cellars, gate remnants, stretches of wall and the torso of the great sandstone tower, which a local association has restored as a lookout.

The view is the payoff — the Krkonoše ridge to the north, Trosky and the Prachov rocks west, Zebín‘s cone punctuating the basin below. The neighbouring ruin of Bradlec sits one hill over for collectors.