Castle Kašovice

Kašovice is the modest, overgrown ruin of a tvrz — a small fortified manor house — tucked into a larch forest above the village of the same name, part of the municipality of Hrádek in the Klatovy District. There's no visitor centre and no reconstruction here, just wall fragments that have held their ground for more than five centuries.

Where are the Kašovice ruins?

The ruins sit on a rise above the village of Kašovice, part of the Hrádek municipality in the Klatovy District, in the Plzeň Region of south-west Bohemia. The site is surrounded by a distinctive larch forest, and the ruins have been protected as a cultural monument since 1964.

What's the difference between a tvrz and a castle?

Kašovice is a tvrz, not a hrad — a small, fortified residence built for a single knightly or minor noble family rather than a full-scale castle serving as the seat of a larger dominion. Structures like this were once common across medieval Bohemia, though few have survived to the present day even as ruins.

What is known about the history of Kašovice?

The village is first mentioned in writing in 1341, in a record naming a certain Sezema of Kašovice — historians assume the tvrz already stood by then. By the late 14th century the estate most likely belonged to the lords of Velhartice. It later passed to the powerful Oldřich z Rožmberka, who sold the village in 1428 to Menhart z Hradce. When the Velhartice estate was broken up in 1555, Kašovice was attached to the Hrádek u Sušice estate. A key date for tracing the tvrz's decline comes from 1565: when Jan Rendl z Úšavy had his Kašovice property entered into the land registry, the tvrz was already recorded as deserted. On that basis, historians place its abandonment sometime in the second half of the 15th century.

What survives on site today?

The only building identified at the site is a rectangular hall roughly 22 by 7.5 metres — likely the sole structure the tvrz ever had. Today its north wall is the most visible remnant, along with fragments of the west and east walls and two internal partition walls. The rest of the layout has faded over the centuries, and the site is now reclaimed by forest.

How do you get there?

The ruins lie close to the village of Kašovice, within the Hrádek municipality near Sušice in the Klatovy District — a part of the Šumava foothills scattered with lesser-known fortified sites. It makes a worthwhile short walk for anyone spending time around Sušice or Hrádek.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Kašovice ruins? The remains of a medieval tvrz — a small fortified manor house — standing in forest above the village of Kašovice, in the Hrádek municipality, Klatovy District.

When was the Kašovice tvrz built? The exact date is unknown. The village, and presumably the tvrz itself, is first recorded in 1341.

When did the tvrz fall into ruin? Most likely during the second half of the 15th century; by 1565 it was already documented as deserted.

What remains of the original building? Mainly the north wall of a rectangular hall measuring about 22 by 7.5 metres, along with fragments of the other walls.

Is the site protected? Yes, it has been listed as a cultural monument since 1964.