I decided to visit the largest castle in the town, the Hrad a Pevnost Špilberk, which has a rather bloodthirsty history, as most castles in this region and actually Europe per se, tend to have.
Špilberk Castle (German: Spielberg) is a castle on the hilltop in Brno, Southern Moravia. Its construction began as early as the first half of the 13th century by the Přemyslid kings and complete by King Ottokar II of Bohemia.[1] From a major royal castle established around the mid-13th century, and the seat of the Moravian margraves in the mid-14th century, it was gradually turned into a huge baroque fortress considered the harshest prison in the Austro-Hungarian empire, and then into barracks. This prison had always been part of the Špilberk fortress. (source)
It was extremely hot, and there were a lot of steps, and it was quite steep, so by the time I reached the top of the hill it had gotten so hot for me that I had to take off my jacket, which I only do when it's really hot. I walked around the castle, which was filled mostly with teenage couples, because of course the most romantic spot a teenager can come up with is an erstwhile prison fortress where hundreds of people died in agony and desperation.
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| Stopping for Kundera, although today I did not feel unbearably light |
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| Romulus and Remus |
The view was nice, although reminded me of a dustier, Bohemian version of Tallinn's Toompea.
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