Valdštejn

The oldest castle of the Český ráj, founded around 1260 on sandstone blocks above Turnov — ancestral seat of the Waldstein family, reached over a stone bridge lined with baroque statues.

Valdštejn is the oldest castle in the Český ráj, founded around 1260 by Jaroslav of Hruštice of the Markvartici clan — the family that later took the castle’s name and produced, generations on, the imperial generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein. The builders used the sandstone itself as fortification: the castle spans several rock blocks, with rooms carved straight into the stone. The Waldsteins held it until about 1380, the lords of Vartenberk until the Hussite wars; what stands today mixes the gothic core with romantic and classicist additions from later centuries. The approach crosses a stone bridge lined with baroque statues of Czech patron saints (copies by the Turnov sculptor Jiří Novák). The castle is owned by the town of Turnov and open to visitors in season.