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There is no place like Krakovec.

Description of the current conditions of some important architectural items

Krakovec resembles a gothic chateau rather than a castle, and primarily met the requirements for representation and comfortable housing, which is still proven by the remains of original spatial and vault arrangement of the fixtures.

The inner castle consisted of two parts; the front part included the entrance gate and the ramparts surrounding the semi-circular tower (not higher than the palace buildings), connected to the ramparts that outlined the rear residential 3-wing part of the castle. The best equipment was that in the representative areas on the 1st floor, with a grand hall fitted with a fireplace, and an elaborate chapel with alcove-shaped choir in the southeastern corner of the palace. The defensive functions of the castle were reduced significantly, which is proven, among other things, by large windows on the ground floor of the palace part. The most intriguing area is the chapel with original spatial arrangement, with 5-side choir designed as a big alcove. The vault of the chapel is interesting for its “incomprehensible complexity” and rich shapes, completely new in the history of medieval vaults. This is the biggest value of the vault, unparalleled in the European context.

Also the unique ribbed vaults, in different levels of conservation, belong to the most important elements of the architectural heritage. All vaults were cross type, and the stone ribs weren’t anchored in the vault. The research has revealed that this original structure enabled the regular cross vaults to be built in irregular sections, and to use circular ribs of the same radius. The castle is accessible via a wooden bridge, manually chiseled, with the structure based on the late medieval shapes, again unparalleled all over Europe. The bridge was finished in May 2005.

Krakovec takes the visitors to the unique atmosphere of the times of King Wenceslas IV, the gothic mannerism, beautiful style and beautiful Madonna pictures; the castle presents the top-notch architectural unity, originality, “incomprehensible complexity” and rich shapes of the vault systems.