Vartnov: A Medieval Hilltop Castle in Czechia
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Bohemia
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page5 sections
History
Vartnov is a ruined medieval hilltop castle in Czechia, near Pocheň and approximately six kilometres southeast of Krnov. It was probably established in the early fourteenth century by members of the Warta family, nobles connected with the court of Duke Nicholas II of Troppau.
Early lords and the Duchy of Troppau
The castle’s construction date is unknown. The names Wartnau and Wartenau are derived from the Warta family, whose members held an important place in the castle’s early history. In 1349, the lords of Warta became burgraves, or castle governors responsible for administration and defence, of Landek Castle. Vartnov then presumably passed to Vok I of Holstein, who was active in the political life of the Duchy of Troppau, a Silesian principality divided among several heirs during the fourteenth century.
Vok’s son Stephen I was described as being of Wartnau in 1376. By the following year, the Vartnov lordship included Bronsdorf, Loděnice, Úblo, half of Leskovec nad Moravicí, Jelení, and the town of Horní Benešov. After the 1377 partition of the Duchy of Troppau among the sons of Nicholas II, the domain became part of the possessions of Duke John I of Ratibor.
Ducal administration and destruction
In 1421, Stephen II of Holstein was required to surrender Vartnov and its domain to Duke John II of Troppau-Ratibor. The castle was then administered by ducal officials, including Andrew of Wartnau in 1422 and Nicholas of Wartnau from 1426 to 1427. Before 1450, control passed to Bernard Bírka of Násile, the governor of Troppau, who later supported the Bohemian king George of Poděbrady.
Vartnov was destroyed in 1474 during the Bohemian-Hungarian succession wars, a series of conflicts over the Bohemian crown and its territories. The Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who ruled from 1458 to 1490, conquered the castle and burned it. Vartnov was never rebuilt after this destruction.
The ruins have been protected as a cultural monument since 1958.
Remains
Hilltop ruin
Vartnov stands on a hill on the right bank of the Čižina, a tributary that flows into the Opava River. Its surviving fabric consists only of ruin remains from the hilltop castle. The destruction by fire in 1474 ended the castle’s use, and no reconstruction followed, leaving the site as a ruined medieval fortified residence and defensive complex.
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