CZ photos on Flickr

A rather small, but historically important gothic castle founded around 1330 in deep Moravian woods. Soon the founder got into a conflict with the Moravian markgrave about another castle which he illegaly held, and in 1350 markgrave´s army besieged the castle. The feud was settled through selling of Cimburk to the markgrave, and the castle has been rebuilt to provide more comfort. Pledge owners changed in the next century, Vok IV. of Holstein became a owner officially but the current owner was not informed, so Vok simply assaulted the castle in 1406 and took over. The Holstein family held it for the next decades, fortifications have been damaged in 1421 by a unsuccesful Hussite siege. The king held the right of free enter and to use the castle for defense, which shows how an important forrtess it was at that time. In 1468 the Hungarian invasion army of Matthias Corvinus seized the castle in their campaign against Bohemia, after their withdrawal it´s fortifications have been completely rebuilt and upgraded. In 1523 it became hereditary property of Vilém of Víckov (the family which founded Víckov Castle, which I visited a while ago), ending the fast changing series of pledge owners. In 1623 the current castle owner has been captured by Transylvanian count Gábor Betlen, who took the castle through the betrayal of the owners brother. The owner had to pay 10000 gold pieces for his freedom, which heavily indebted the estate. The next siege came in 1645, when Swedes invaded Moravia - they were unable to seize it, but ravaged the surroundings. In 1663 the castle became a safe haven from a Turkish invasion of Moravia, but after the Turks have been defeated at Vienna in 1683 it lost it´s defense importance, and the owners moved to a nearby fort rebuilt into a renaissance chateau. Definitive abandonement came in early 18th Century.

Unlike many other abandoned castles, Cimburk has not been left by the people. Archeological research and some conservation efforts have been done throug the 20th Century, and in the last twenty years a volunteer group systematically works to preserve the place for next generations, slowly repairing and securing critical areas with original material and technology. It looks like a century of work now, but without this effort the castle would fall apart in the next twenty years.

Urban periphery/9 by Pavel R.

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CZ

Cz by Out N About!

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Czek graffiti seattle cz

CZ=Hödlmayr by Foto Wildschut

Mortimer May 2013 - Glenn Davey by Eric Miles

Member of the winning 35+ MXDN team Glenn on his 360. For the event in Sweden Glenn rode a specially constructed 250 single piper - and brought it home 13th and 14th against the bigger bikes helping England secure the team win.

CZ-1UK 1135a by Frank Røyseland "Passed one million vievs march 6 2025"