Czechia · Partial ruin
Litice Castle
Litice Castle sits on a steep wooded headland above the Divoká Orlice in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic, founded around 1300 and heavily rebuilt under George of Poděbrady in the mid-15th century. The southern palace wing and a slim square tower survive as the best-preserved elements, while other outer walls have fallen into ruin; the site has seen periodic repairs since the 19th century.
First raised
1300
Its prime
1468
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1468
What Litice Castle looked like in its prime.
Perched on a steep, tree-clad headland above a river valley, the castle reads as a compact stone complex: a slim square tower rising above a long southern palace wing with a steep pitched roof, both built of grey-brown ashlar and rubble masonry. To one side are broken lengths of curtain wall and lower ruined embankments; the main entrance passes through a gate tower set into the curtain with visible embrasures and fortified bastions low on the slope.
Its story
The story of Litice Castle.
Litice Castle occupies a high headland looped by the Divoká Orlice river, a site chosen just before 1300 by the Drslavic family, who named the castle after their original family settlement in the Plzeň area. In the 14th century it was owned successively, for a short span, by two Luxembourg rulers, John of Bohemia and Charles IV, before Boček of Kunštát, a Moravian noble, came with his family to settle at the castle in 1371.
One branch of the Kunštát family became naturalised in Bohemia through marriage and the purchase of the Poděbrady and Pardubice estates, and the castle was heavily rebuilt under George of Poděbrady in the mid-15th century. From 1562 Litice was owned by the lords of Bubna of Litice, and in 1815 it was purchased by the Parish family.
The southern palace wing and a slim square tower survive as the best-preserved elements, other outer walls having fallen into ruin, with periodic repairs since the 19th century. The castle's name also crossed the Atlantic, members of the Moravian Church named the town of Lititz, Pennsylvania after it.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1468.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Litice Castle, including 2 interiors: southern palace first-floor hall, slim square tower vaulted chamber. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Litice Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1468, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Castle Siege
Play Castle Siege at Litice Castle.
A strategy game played on Litice Castle’s real ground plan: the same surveyed walls shown in the archive below. Post your finite garrison on the battlements between assaults, then hold out as rams, siege towers, trebuchets and sappers arrive in ever-worse waves.
Sign in free to see the garrison muster. One castle costs 150 Clan Coins and is yours forever.
Sign in to take command →Whose castle
Clans who held Litice Castle.
The families that held Litice Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Drslavic
Founded the castle just before 1300, naming it after the family's original settlement in the Plzeň area.
Kunštát
Boček of Kunštát settled here with his family in 1371; the castle was rebuilt under George of Poděbrady in the mid-15th century.
Bubna
The lords of Bubna of Litice owned the castle from 1562.
Parish
Purchased the castle in 1815.
From the archive
Litice Castle on paper: the measured plan and period views.
The survey plan and photographs below are the ground truth this page's reconstructions are checked against, drawn and photographed while the castle was still a working garrison. Every image is public-domain or openly licensed, with its source named.
Krb na Liticích.
1890s · A. Sedláček, Hrady, zámky a tvrze Království českého, díl 2 (1882–1927)
Public domain
Krb na Liticích.
1890s · A. Sedláček, Hrady, zámky a tvrze Království českého, díl 2 (1882–1927)
Public domain
Příjezd čtvrté brány Litické (na pláne č. 12.)
1890s · A. Sedláček, Hrady, zámky a tvrze Království českého, díl 2 (1882–1927)
Public domain
