Hidden jewel of Moravia: Helfstyn Castle / Schovany klenot Moravy: hrad Helfstyn

One of the hidden jewels of Moravia is definitely the Helfstyn castle, one of the largest fortresses of central Europe. This magnificent fortress is spreading through the forests of Moravia, overlooking the town Lipnik nad Becvou (by Ostrava). The castle was originated at the end of 13th century and its architectural development continued well into the 18th century. The name of the castle “Helfstyn” or “Helfen – Stein” (Helf’s Rock) comes from its founder, Mr. Fridusia Helf from Linava. This knight was known to become rich by stealing from others. Helfstyn castle became not only his residency but also the perfect “storage shed” for his stolen goodies. Initially, Helfstyn castle had an important military function as a military base of Hussites against the German catholic town of Olomouc and later also became the support of Jiri of Podebrad’s troops against the Hungarian king Mathias Corvin. It also played a huge role during the Thirty Year’s War, when the castle was taken by the Swedish army, and in the course of Turkish threat to Moravia(indeed, this castle had quite an adventurous past..).The tourist entrance fee for is today about 50 cents during off-season and about $1.00 during the summer. For that “outrageous” price one can enjoy many different activities such as various exhibitions, knight sword-fighting enactments and various blacksmith classes. And if you still have some energy left after viewing the castle, its surroundings offer various beautiful hiking trails such as the one called Gabrielka.

CZ: Jednim ze schovanych klenotu Moravskych hradu je zarucene hrad Helfstyn, ktery je hodnocen jako jeden z nejvetsich hradu stredni Evropy. Tato obrovska pevnost se rozleha v lesich moravskeho Lipniku nad Becvou, mesteckem blizko Ostravy. Stavba hradu byla pocata jiz koncem 13.stoleti, ale dnesni dnesni podoba hradu byla ukoncena az v druhe polovine 18.stoleti. Jmeno hradu Helfstyn, nebo-li Helfen-Stein (Helfuv kamen) bylo vytvoreno jeho zakladatelem Fridrichem Helfem z Linavy. Byl v okoli znam jako loupezivy ritir, ktery se zivil kradenim ciziho majetku. Hrad Helfstyn tedy nebyl pouze jeho rezidenci, ale byl take pouzit jako skladiste pro jeho ukradene zbozi. Zamek slouzil jako “nedobytna pevnost” nejprve Husitum proti nemeckemu katolickem mestu Olomouc, pote Jirimu z Podebrad, ktery se branil proti madarskemu krali Matiasovi Korvinu. Behem Tricetilete Valky byl hrad dobyt Svedskymi vojsky a pozdeji hral take velkou roli behem tureckych vpadu na Moravske uzemi; tento hrad se v minulosti opravdu nenudil…Dnes stoji vstpenky 15,-Kc mimo sezonu a 30,-Kc behem sezony. Za tuto vybornou cenu si muzete vychutnat rozlisne vystavy, sermirske turnaje a take kurzy kovarstvi. A jestlize se i po prohlidce hradu citite jako ze jste nemeli dost, tak si muzete vyslapnout jednu z mnoha turistickych stezek, jako je stezka Gabrielka.

Source: http://www.helfstyn.cz/default.html