Houska Castle: A Gothic Masterpiece with a Dark Legend
If you ever get a chance to visit Czechia, you may want to steer clear of this place. Located just about 29 miles north of Prague, is where one would find Houska Castle. Built sometime in the second half of the 13th century, Houska Castle is touted as one of the best-preserved “Gothic” style castles of the period. But there is a dark legend behind the structure that suggests that while most castles are meant to keep people out, Houska was designed and built to keep “Something” in.
The Legend of the Bottomless Pit
Legend states that where the castle resides, was once an opening to a cave that led to a bottomless pit. But what really makes this notable is that many of the surrounding villagers claimed that demonic creatures would be seen flying in/out of the cave entrance at both dusk and dawn.
Curious as to what exactly was down that pit, the locals decided to “volunteer” a prisoner and have him lowered into said pit to see just what was down there. In exchange, he would receive a full pardon plus a sack of gold for his troubles. But as the legend goes, within a few minutes of being lowered, the prisoner began to scream in terror and begged to be pulled back up. When they did, the prisoner had seemingly aged by 20 years, his hair was pure white and his mind was broken. After this, the decision was made to build Houska Castle on top of the cave in an attempt to seal it, with a small church built on top of the pit itself.
Strange Happenings During WWII
But even though the cave was sealed, there were still a lot of strange happenings which were reported by those who occupied Houska over the centuries. During WWII, the Nazis occupied Houska Castle and it is said that they conducted many experiments within its walls which dealt with the occult. Many of the locals who lived in the area at the time have claimed seeing unexplained lights emanating from the castle at night, as well as hearing screams of who they believed to be prisoners being tortured by the Nazi occupants.
Visiting Houska Castle Today
Today the castle is more or less open to the public and you can visit it. But considering its history and just what might lurk under its foundation, you may want to go only in the daytime and with a group.
~NC
