One of the largest castles in the Czech Republic is Hrad Veveří, “Burg Eichhorn” in German, which means “Castle Squirrel”. It is about 12-15 kilometers (7-9 miles) to the North West of the city of Brno (Brünn), the capital of Moravia, by the River Svratka.

On the map, I marked the castle with an arrow (near upper left corner), and at the bottom, on the right, “Bystrc” is a part of Brno. Here you can get on a tram and take one of this ships if you are traveling without a car:

The castle is on the hill, ruling the river, completing a picturesque landscape, in harmony with nature.

Okay, maybe this modern pedestrian and bicyclist bridge is varying the landscape too much. But very useful if you are wandering along the river.

According to legend, the castle Veveří ("squirrel" in Czech) was founded by Přemyslid Duke Conrad of Brno in the middle of the 11th century, as a hunting lodge. Nevertheless, the first credible recorded mention about the castle is from the years 1213 and 1222, when King Přemysl Otakar I used the fortified castle as a prison for rebellious peers.
(Wikipedia)

The biggest tower on the pictures is the keep, the oldest part. The typical European middle ages castle had a keep, a large fortified tower built in the middle or in the strongest part of the castle. It was the residence of the nobles living in the castle, and the best fortified, best defendable part, used also like the last refuge in case of an assault.

The owners of the castle later constructed a large outer castle to have more defensive power.

I was always wondering with how many ornaments, embellishments people were enriching objects in those old times. As by these weapons, all of them a different little piece of art.

Leaving the castle again, on the sinuous river, the river in the middle of the woods.

Other posts in my series “Slow down, tourist” you may want to read:

• Less Known Places In Prague
• Dark And Light Stories Of Nürnberg
• Autumn – means death?
• Homage To Catalonia
• Small, Medieval And Beautiful
• Mysterious Town In The Hills
• Cathedral Gargoyles In Pain

(Camera and objectives used to take photos in this post: Panasonic DMC-FS3 /compact/.)

You can message me on Discord.