Oltářík

The ruin of a Hussite castle built after 1426 by captain Jakoubek z Vřesovic on a steep basalt cone above Děkovka — small remains, huge views.

Oltářík is a warrior’s castle: the Hussite captain Jakoubek z Vřesovic built it sometime after 1426 on a steep basalt summit above the hamlet of Děkovka, to hold his lands against the Catholic lords of Hazmburk and the Kaplíř family to the south. It was a military strongpoint rather than a residence, and once the wars passed, so did its purpose — abandoned sometime between 1468 and 1544, it has stood as a modest ruin ever since, protected today as a cultural monument.

What remains is a fragment of the palace on the rock, reached by a short steep climb — and a panorama that explains the site better than any wall could: the whole southern front of the České středohoří, with Hazmburk answering across the lowland.