Český Krumlov

Český Krumlov another Medieval jewel. 

 

Our trip today was to Český Krumlov but it was a 90 minute trip away from Passau on the German - Austrian border where we were moored and we would have to travel by coach.

                                        

A view of the Bishops castle on the hill overlooking the city. We boarded our coaches but we didn't go straight to Český Krumlov but were driven up the hill to the bishop's castle overlooking the city for its fine views.

                                        
The cathedral on the peninsular between the Danube and the Inn.

The waters carry different sediments and the Inn is a light colour. The Danube is a brown colour but the Ilz is very dark and the waters don’t mix immediately but the three different colours are clearly discernible on the ground but just above the pergola of a restaurant, you may be able to make out the darker of the Danube.

A view of the Town Hall with a ship moored infant of it...not mine.

And after a long journey we were finally in Český Krumlov. We walked through the arches to reach the old town centre. There are corridors on three levels and the top corridor is a kilometre long connecting the monastery to the castle, then to the palace and finally to the royal gardens,

                                       
The old town is built on a large meander in the river that is nearly a full circle with just a few metres of land at the neck. The narrow footbridge takes us over the river. Upstream is a weir and it is very popular to paddle down the river in anything that floats. There is a gentle current and many places it is one a metre deep.

Looking up there are two palaces and the tower of the castle.

The old town is unspoiled with many old buildings.

A lot of restoration work has been carried out Several layers of paint were carefully removed to reveal the original but there was not enough for a full restoration so one figure is missing a foot and the other is just feet, a staff and an arm.

The main square is surrounded by old buildings Just one of them with a balcony.

The town hall with the coats of arms of two prominent families, the town and the region.

This is the first purpose built bank building in the main square and it is taller and plainer than many of the others. After it was built it blocked the view of the cathedral from the square...

...but the castle tower can be seen down an alley.

                                     

We walked down the alley and across the bridge overlooked by the castle.

                                      

Looking back we finally had a full view of the cathedral.

                                                     

Another painted front carefully restored to its original.

                                                     

The entrance to the monastery with umbrella hanging from wires as either decoration or to provide a little shade at midday.

The moat is up a hill so is not filled with water but it is home to two bears.

The one by the food at the base of the wall hasn't moved but the other one was walking across the enclosure.

The Red Gate into the castle.

There are five courtyards in a row and leaving the first one is a walk uphill to the gate into the second courtyard. The decoration to the building on the left is not carved stone blocks but is flat and the pattern painted on.

The next courtyard...

...a balcony overlooking the next courtyard.

The top corridor of the arches that we had seen earlier crossing into the park.

The only surviving section of the old town wall, other sections have been incorporated into houses and are not visible to the visitor.

On the way back to the boat we stopped in Rosenberg, named after the first of four families who ruled Český Krumlov. The motorbike stand on a column of a popular cafe for bikers.

The other palace in the town just a few hundred metres away.

A view down the Molda River which dissects the town with a boat on it.