There’s no doubt that Houska Castle in the Czech Republic – central Europe – is a creepy gothic fortress. Like something out of the Dracula novel by Bram Stoker. But is it really, as some have claimed, a gateway to hell? Was this impressive structure thrown up to hide an entrance to the underworld – or to stop demons from exiting the inferno and coming into our world?
Inevitably, there are stories that during World War Two, occupying Nazi forces came to the castle to conduct experiments into the occult. There are tales of birds dying inexplicably in the castle grounds, screams emanating from below its foundations, and people who investigate re-emerging with white hair – from terror.
An unkind cynic might ascribe this to the inventiveness of the local tourist board, but there are those who are adamant that Houska Castle hides a hellish secret. They claim that as far back as the 13th century, local people spoke of a bottomless pit in the forest from which winged beasts flew. The local noble – keen to dispel this kind of superstitious nonsense – lowered a young, male criminal by a rope into the hole. When the villagers pulled him back up, the poor soul had aged dreadfully into a quivering geriatric.
Ottokar II, King of Bohemia, built Houska Castle – about thirty miles north of the Czech capital, Prague. Many have remarked on the location having no particular merits but we have to assume that Ottokar had good strategic reasons to put a fortress there. Maybe the local population were a rebellious bunch. But the legend has grown that the real reason was that it was placed over the bottomless pit to put a cap on its evil. Should you wish to test this theory, Houska Castle is now open to the public and Prague is a gorgeous city to visit.
