Helfenburk Castle Ruins

Helfenburk or Hrádek, built about 2.5 km east of Úštěk, belongs to the group of so-called "rock castles", characteristic of the sandstone areas of northeastern Bohemia. It consists of two temporally and structurally different units: the inner core and the outer fortification. The inner part was founded on the top of a sandstone ridge, which widens towards the east and in the west, at the end of the promontory, breaks up into smaller and lower blocks, divided by transverse cracks. It grows from a sloping wooded base, the southern slope of which is more gradual, while the northern one drops steeply into the stream valley. In the east, the ridge, which is still widening, transitioned into a plateau. From here, from the village of Rašovice, the only access road to the castle went, to which the castle turned with a wider front as to the side of the attack, protected by a deep ditch.

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