The present Zvíkov Castle was most probably built on the orders of King Ottokar I in the first half of the thirteenth century, and it is first mentioned in writing in 1234. It was extended until 1278. The article calls it one of the most important early-Gothic castles in the Czech lands.
Hlízová, a massive prismatic residential tower, is the oldest part. The King's palace is connected by a monumental arcade, and the Chapel of Saint Wenceslaus has early-Gothic murals. The Hláska tower is 105 feet (32 meters) high.
The Hussites besieged the castle for four months in 1429 and failed to take it. The Schwarzenbergs funded a major reconstruction in the 1840s after it was nearly a ruin. The Orlík Dam, built from 1954 to 1962, flooded the castle's downtown. It is a hiking attraction.
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