Houska Castle – Place Full of Mystery
Myths fascinate people – they combine reality and fiction, sparkling with excitement, passion, euphoria, and a magical attraction. The more they are told and passed on to others, the more an image of something is formed, the reality of which becomes blurred gradually and raises countless questions.
There are myths that inspire with their romantic aspects and irresistible grace, and there are myths that send ice-cold shivers down your spine. Goose bumps appear and the whole body freezes. Such a myth lies like a dark veil over the content of this article.
Houska Castle in the Czech town of Blatce is not just known as a pleasant sight to put on your list of places to visit and take nice pictures of. The building itself doesn't look particularly attractive. In fact, it is the horror story behind it that frightens—but also amazes—tourists. According to the dark legend, the castle was built over a pit that leads directly to the underworld and keeps it closed. This reputation is backed up by some interesting historical facts. The gateway to hell, guarded and preserved by dark walls thousands of years old: so far from heaven, so close to the abyss. Will you dare to enter?
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere – where was Houska Castle built?
We are located south of Doksy (German: Hirschberg) in the Bohemian Switzerland of the Czech Republic – about 60 kilometers from the capital city of Prague. You could almost say that we are in the middle of nowhere, as useful trade routes are far away. While since the end of the 9th century, a fortification (first made of wood, then later of stone) had been erected on the castle hill, King Ottokar II of Bohemia ordered the construction of this castle between 1270 and 1280; it has been preserved to this day.
The building is one of the Early Gothic manor houses and is said to have been constructed as an administrative building. For administrative tasks. Well, you don't normally need a place like this to administer royal estates, properties, and lands. You're probably wondering: why there, of all places? After all, such a building is quite expensive to build, and without any real use, it seems a bit of a waste. Far from any civilization, with no water supply or defensive structures (not even hunting was possible due to the dense trees), it made little sense. The people of the time thought so too, so they asked themselves a shocking question: What if the castle was built not to protect against external forces, but rather to guard what lurked within?
We'll come back to this later. Later, at the end of the 16th century, the original castle was converted into a Renaissance palace. The striking square tower was removed in 1658 and the roof was lowered in 1823. Further extensive renovations took place between 1924 and 1939.
Architectural Features of Houska Castle
As far as looks are concerned, Houska Castle is not really a beauty. The building was influenced by the Gothic style – if you are interested in this architectural style, there is even a Blog Post , which you can read. The small, inconspicuous windows and towering, thick walls, however, are more reminiscent of other influences. Nevertheless, it has the typical features of the 13th century. The building is quadrangular in shape and surrounds a central courtyard from which you can see the surrounding countryside. If you are lucky, you can even see the famous television tower in Ještěd, the highest point of the Jeseníky Mountains in northern Bohemia.
The castle's two-story chapel is particularly important to the myth, as legend has it that it was built above the gates of hell to prevent demons from entering this world. The atmosphere is somber, enhanced by strange Gothic and Renaissance murals. Unusual frescoes depict Archangel Michael fighting a dragon – an image that symbolizes the eternal struggle against evil. Particularly enigmatic, however, is the image of a centaur; half-man, half-beast, which, according to tradition, dates from the 13th century. Pagan creatures in sacred spaces? Such an unusual motif can only suggest what the builders were trying to hide.
The chapel walls are often damp, even in the driest conditions. In the silent darkness, you get the feeling that something is lurking here that is not meant for the human eye. And those demonic grimaces? They can be seen not only in the chapel, but also in the vaulted cellar of the castle. What did people think centuries ago when they first saw these details?
Gateway to Hell Myth: Fact or Fiction?
A dark story has been told about Houska Castle for years: Is there really a "gateway to hell" here? Legend has it that deep under the castle chapel there is a gaping chasm to nowhere. A black hole so deep that you will never hear the sound of a dropped stone hitting the bottom. Before the castle was built, something is said to have crawled out of this hole at night – demons and strange winged creatures. Detailed eyewitness accounts are rare, for those who saw these creatures rarely returned. And those who did return were completely changed: disturbed, confused, as if delirious. No one dared go near the dark chasm willingly. Until the decision was made to offer freedom to convicted criminals if they would climb down and report back on what they had witnessed.
Are you ready for some real horror? Because what's about to happen will send shivers down your spine: The story goes that a young convict agreed to solve the mystery. His task was to gauge whether there was a bottom. But as soon as he reached the bottom, they could hear him screaming. Panicking, they pulled him up – and froze. The man had changed: his face was wrinkled, his hair was grey, he looked decades older. No one could get him to talk about the terrible things that had happened to him in the chasm. What he had seen remains a mystery to this day. He took the answers with him to his grave, for he died a few days later, mad and without speaking a word.
It remained a place of horror and many prisoners chose suicide rather than enter the chasm. To ward off the evil spirits, the villagers closed the chasm with heavy stone slabs and built a chapel over it. But even that was not enough: dead birds were regularly found in the courtyard of the castle. Their bodies lay scattered, as if some dark force had plucked them from the air. It was said that there was a tremendous noise one night, and in the morning the stone slabs were strangely out of place. Were there really spirits unleashing these forces? Or could there simply have been so much gas underground that it exploded upwards? The truth remains in the dark – and perhaps that's as it should be.
Dark Chapters of History: Nazis and the Occult at Houska Castle
Houska Castle has had many owners over the centuries, but no one has ever touched the heavy stone slabs above the legendary chasm. In the 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War, the feared Commander Oronto found himself within the castle walls. Obsessed with the idea of black magic, he carried out horrific experiments that frightened the local population and eventually drove them to revolt. Some peasants stormed the castle, killed Oronto and his mercenaries, and once again made the castle the scene of gruesome tales.
During World War II, from 1939 to 1945, the German SS occupied Houska Castle. Adolf Hitler himself was said to have been interested in occult and supernatural methods for winning the war. The exact activities of the Nazis at this remote location remain a mystery to this day. It is rumored that the SS may have conducted occult research and experiments there in an attempt to harness supernatural powers for their own purposes. Hitler invested considerable resources in the search for mysterious weapons, and his interest in the aforementioned occult machinations supports the idea that the SS used the castle as a staging ground for research into a connection to the "gateway to hell".
Another rumor is that the SS used the building as a breeding facility, where young women of certain origins were intended to have children by strong SS soldiers in order to advance the so-called master race. After the war, the site had to be cleared of landmines. To this day, however, the owners do not allow any further excavations inside the castle for fear that undiscovered German booby traps may still be hidden, making the mysterious site potentially dangerous.
Concrete evidence of alleged Nazi machinations at Houska Castle is sadly lacking, as all records were destroyed when Russian and American troops approached the area. Like many other secrets, they disappeared into the dark shadows of the eerie castle …
Houska Castle Today: Between History, Myth, and Tourism
After World War II, the castle returned to the family of Josef Šimonek, the former president of Škoda, who had bought the property in 1924 and turned it into a summer residence. With the help of his descendants, Ing. Dr. Jaromír Šimonek and Dr. Blanka Horová, the castle was extensively restored and finally opened to the public in 1999. It is still privately owned by the current president of Škoda Works.
Who hasn't experienced the thrill of such series as "X-Factor: The Unbelievable"? The TV show, with American actor/director Jonathan Frakes, enigmatically reveals which of the previously told stories are true and which are just fantasy. The stories about Houska Castle are very similar. Even if, in the end, there is no one to ask, "Do you think this story is true?", the legend lives on, fed by fascination with the inexplicable.
What really happened within the walls of Houska Castle remains a mystery. While skeptical visitors do not confirm the supposedly eerie atmosphere and consider the "gateway to hell" to be a myth, occult researchers and ghost hunters come here year after year to experience it for themselves. Guided tours of the castle have been offered since the 1990s, including ghost tours designed to bring the eerie stories to life. Reports of mysterious occurrences continue to cause a stir: From voices and banging noises to technical malfunctions experienced by visitors. One story has it that all the cars in the parking lot suddenly wouldn't start until a priest blessed them with holy water.
Conclusion: Houska Castle – Inspiring the Imagination
Houska Castle repeatedly appears in international rankings of the most haunted places and castles worldwide. Its mysterious history and dark legends have captured the imagination of people all over the world. Despite modern technology and numerous attempts to explore the "gateway to hell", this place has never been investigated in detail. The current owner does not allow any research into this mysterious place, leaving room for speculation. What is he hiding? Why is the investigation of this mystery so tightly controlled? As long as these questions remain unanswered, Houska Castle will remain a place of mystery and eerie allure – a fascinating destination for those who are captivated by the supernatural and the inexplicable.
So, would you dare to look into the depths of hell? Or would you be afraid of the darkness staring back at you?
