Bor
Castle
The history of the castle in Bor u Tachova began in 1263 when it was mentioned as a moated castle protecting the river crossing and the main trade routes in the area of wooded hills and sparse population. The Gothic castle was surrounded by moats and protected by a high cylindrical tower. The area surrounding today’s Bor belonged to Ratmír of Skviřín in the first half of the 13th century and was either founded by Ratmír or his sons. A trading settlement grew up in the neighbourhood of the castle. Ratmír’s descendants, the Lords of Bor and later the Švamberks, owned the castle and town until 1650.
Castle tower in Bor has an outer diameter of 9.4 m, total height 51 m, height of floor walkway above the courtyard 28,5 m
Bor Castle went through many changes over time. At the beginning of the 16th century it was reconstructed and thanks to that we have one of the most important late Gothic castles. At the end of the 16th century it was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. This building survived until the 18th century. Its current appearance dates from the time of the Löwensteins who started the last major redevelopment in the 1830’s. The buildings face is formed by the bergfrit of Švamberk’s medieval castle. The extensive chateau complex was unified in neo-gothic style by a façade with turrets and battlements adorned with terracotta emblems of the owners.
Emblem of the owners – Švamberk
The most valuable architectural part of the chateau is the late Gothic style interior, especially the room with cellar vaults, the Chapel of St Vavrinec and the medieval tower which has a brick dome. Surrounding the chateau are large landscaped ponds.
Castle in Bor
There are only three noble families who are connected to the rich history of Bor. The descendants of Ratmír, the Lords of Bor and later the Švamberks, who owned the town 400 years until 1650. Zikmund Bedřich von Götzen bought the chateau from the Švamberks. He then sold it to Dominik Makvart Löwenstein-Wertheim. The Löwensteins owned the estate until 1945. It was then confiscated by the state and it served as a boarding house of an agricultural school until the late 1990’s. Today the chateau is owned by the town.
The vaulted ceiling of the castle
View from the tower of the castle in 1911
