Tvrz Újezd u Boskovic

Tvrz Újezd u Boskovic is a vanished medieval stronghold sitting on the hill of Hradisko, roughly one kilometre north of the village of Újezd u Boskovic in the Blansko district, South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Nothing of the original structure remains above ground today except a set of well-preserved earthworks — a raised mound, a moat and a rampart — which still trace the outline of the old fortification clearly enough for visitors to read the site with their own eyes.

What survives on site today?

At the top of Hradisko hill, the oval footprint of the former tvrz is still visible, measuring roughly 42 by 30 metres. At its centre stands a distinctly raised mound, the spot where a timber or timber-and-earth defensive structure once stood. The mound is encircled by a moat about nine metres wide and up to 3.5 metres deep, and beyond the moat's outer edge runs an additional earthen rampart. This combination of mound, moat and rampart was a common defensive layout for small private knightly residences built across medieval Bohemia and Moravia, where earthworks served as an affordable substitute for stone fortifications.

When was it built, and by whom?

No written record documenting the construction of this stronghold or naming its owners has survived. Historians base their estimates mainly on the shape of the earthworks and on the archaic form of the local place name, concluding that the site most likely dates to the twelfth or thirteenth century. This was a period of intensive settlement and colonisation across Moravia, when numerous small noble residences of this kind were established in the region — so the dating is considered plausible, even though no chronicle entry confirms it directly.

Was it a siege fort used against Boskovice Castle?

Researchers have proposed two competing explanations for the site's original purpose. Some authors have suggested that the hill served as a field fortification used by besiegers during conflicts over the nearby Boskovice Castle, and local tradition even holds that the castle — known locally as "Bašta" — was besieged from this very spot. A second, more widely favoured interpretation holds that Hradisko was instead the seat of an independent minor noble family: a classic small tvrz functioning as the administrative centre of a small landed estate, unconnected to the fate of Boskovice Castle itself. Because no conclusive written sources exist, both explanations remain matters of scholarly interpretation rather than settled fact.

Why is it worth a visit?

Tvrz Újezd u Boskovic is not built for mass tourism — there are no reconstructions, information panels or visitor facilities on site. It appeals instead to travellers who enjoy reading a medieval defensive landscape directly from the terrain, tracing the line of a moat or the shape of a rampart without any modern overlay. Its quiet hilltop setting within the Blansko countryside makes it easy to combine with a walk around the Boskovice area, including a visit to Boskovice Castle itself, with which local tradition still links this modest earthwork.

Frequently asked questions

Are there any stone remains on site? No. The tvrz was most likely a timber-and-earth structure, and only the earthworks — the mound, moat and rampart — have survived.

How do you get to the site? It lies on Hradisko hill, about one kilometre north of the centre of Újezd u Boskovic village, in the Blansko district.

Do we know who owned the tvrz? No written documents identifying the owners have survived; conclusions about its dating and purpose rely entirely on analysis of the terrain and the local place name.

Is the tvrz connected to Boskovice Castle? According to one theory and local tradition, the site may have served as a siege fortification during conflicts over Boskovice Castle, though researchers more often consider it an independent, small noble residence in its own right.