Děvičky
Castle · Czechia
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Děvičky (also called Maidberg or Dívčí hrady) is a Gothic castle ruin on a limestone crag at 428 m, dominating the north ridge of the Děvín massif. Protected as a cultural monument since 1964.
The first written mention of the castle dates to 1222, when it guarded the trade route running from Mikulov toward Brno and Olomouc; that structure was destroyed before the century was out, and what stands today dates from the early 1300s. King John of Luxembourg handed the castle to Hartneider of Liechtenstein in 1334, and the family held it until 1560, when Kryštof of Liechtenstein, deep in debt, sold it to Ladislav Kerecsenyi; the Dietrichstein family took over an already-declining castle in 1575. Retreating Swedish troops plundered and burned Děvičky in 1645 during the Thirty Years' War. It was patched up and kept on as a watch post afterward, until a fire in 1744 ended its working life for good, and the last watchman died in 1784. Local legend explains the name: the three stone pillars standing below the ruin are said to be petrified maidens, giving the castle both its Czech name, Dívčí hrady, and its German one, Maidberg.
What you see
The ruin rides a narrow rock spur with the ground dropping away on three sides, and through its broken walls the ridge opens onto the flat sheet of the Nové Mlýny reservoirs and the vineyard rows of the Pálava wine country below.
Practical
Freely accessible year-round; the usual approach is a roughly 1 km footpath from the car park in Pavlov, climbing about 178 m to reach the ruin.
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