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official pages of Mladá Boleslav region

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Ruins of Michalovice Castle

Castles and Castle Ruins: Castle Ruins

Zřícenina hradu Michalovice, author: Luděk Antoš

Podlázky
Mladá Boleslav, 293 01

Phone:	+420 326 792 082
Web:	www.kulturamb.cz/cs/michalovicka-putna

The ruins of Michalovice Castle near Mladá Boleslav are dominated by a leaning tower, popularly called Putna. The castle, favoured by the poet Karel Hynek Mácha for its location and romanticism, was built by the noble family of the Lords of Michalovice in the second half of the 13th century.

Michalovická putna ruins stand on the outskirts of Mladá Boleslav in the direction to Česká Lípa. The massive leaning tower is one of the best lookout points in the Mladá Boleslav region.

The cylindrical tower built from regular, almost cubiform stones dominates the castle. The stone structure gained its colloquial name “Putna” (bucket) owing to its shape.

As Michalovická putna standing over the romantic valley of the Jizera river was a favourite castle of the traveller Karel Hynek Mácha, a bronze plaque was installed here to mark the hundredth anniversary of his visit. The tower providing magnificent view of the surroundings is clearly leaning and therefore is sometimes referred to as the Mladá Boleslav Pisa. A legend has it that adventurous treasure hunters caused the tower to lean. According to other theories, the tower is leaning owing to loosened bedrock or owing to the blasting below the castle during railway construction in 1863-1865, which ripped and tilted the tower. However, this explanation is rather unlikely. According to the latest findings, the tower was ripped by gun powder explosion clearly long before 1738.

Souvenirs and postcards of this magical place are available for purchase at the entry to the ruins. The history of the place and the mystery of the leaning tower is newly presented on an audio panel, which is part of the Metal Trail through Mladá Boleslav.