Bezděz Castle

Bezděz Castle (Czech: hrad Bezděz) is a Gothic castle in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It is located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Česká Lípa. Its construction began before 1264 by order of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. The royal castle of Bezděz was one of the most important Gothic castles in the Czech lands until its destruction in the Thirty Years' War. Erected between 1260 and 1280 on the phonolite hill of Velký Bezděz, 604 metres (1,982 ft) above sea level, it became the characteristic landmark of the local landscape and met the demands for an inaccessible as well as respectable royal castle.