Karlstein Castle

Yesterday we visited Karlstein Castle in the village of Karlstein in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1348 and housed Charles IV, the Holy Roman Emperor-elect and King of Bohemia. The castle has an imperial palace part, and more of a "fort" part. The well was very creepy looking & deep considering it was 78 m in depth. I would not like to ever fall that far. The well tower was the first part of the castle to be built. The castle does not have an independent water source, which is a massive weakness. To keep this a secret from his enemies, the king allegedly had all the construction workers killed after they constructed an underground channel that feeds into the well. The views from a top the castle were breath taking. It was really fun to roam around within the castle walls in its courtyards and what not. The village was reminescent of the ones painted in Walt Disney fairytales. There were charming shops and restaurants all along the main street. Personally I would never want to live in a castle. It's rather drafty and there's so much space that just isn't used. You also wouldn't know if an intruder was in there because it's so large.
That evening we went to a classical music concert in a concert hall just off of Old Town Square. It was a delightful concert that consisted of 2 violins, a viola & cello player plus an opera singer.

The Well Tower