The Mystery of Houska Castle

[Benjamin]

I came across this post featuring video's from the Bedtime Stories YT channel. There's some creepy in there. In the mood for more, I watched a few that piqued my interest, and at the end of one of them, Houska Castle was mentioned.


Tomáš Tuček

Houska Castle (c. 13th century, about 47 miles north of Prague, Czech Republic) has an interesting tale attached to it. It is said that it was built on top of a crevice or pit that is a ‘gateway to hell’. This was done to prevent the demons from continuing to come out of it.

The folklore of this castle is widely repeated. What I've been able to assemble comes mostly from videos about it, and the ‘solid’ historical info seems to mostly come from (Wenceslas) Vaclav Hajak’s Czech Chronicle from 1541, though it has been discredited as a reliable source since many errors have been apparently found throughout. One of the video's I watched has the current Warden of Houska talking about it's history.

Houska Castle rough Timeline:

• Celts in area c. 8th-12th centuries (evidence referenced from the Bull Rock Cave located northwest of Brno, Moravia, Czech Republic (Býčí skála- where the famous bronze bull of the Hallstatt culture was found along with other evidence tracing back to between 10,000-100,000 BCE.) Official English site and original expanded Czech site.
• 
• The area was inhabited by around the 9th century.
• A wooden structure was built here and may have been around for centuries before the castle was built. It might have been a Celtic fort.
• Something significant happened in the year 878 that created a crevice or ‘hole’ in the earth. (This is a strangely specific date that oddly corresponds to the time of habitation in the area.)
• The crevice earned the epithet ‘gateway to hell’, ‘portal to hell’ or ‘gateway to other worlds’. It was mentioned in the chronicles that the rock outcrop (not the castle or building) became inhabited by terrible creatures of many forms (some that were winged) that terrorized people and animals. Pilgrims and travellers no longer wanted to visit the castle.
• The people tried to close the hole by dumping rocks, trash, whatever into it but found it never filled up, leading to the idea that it was a ‘bottomless pit’.
• A prisoner (possibly of the Duda clan (?)) was given the choice of going to jail or being set free if he agreed to first be lowered into the pit by a rope and to report back what he found down there. He agreed, but after a short period of time in the crevice he started to scream and pleaded to be brought back up. Once he emerged, he appeared to have aged 30-ish years and had lost his sanity, dying a few days later. (There are slightly different versions to this story.) Entering the underworld and coming out again sounds like a 'journey to the underworld' tale.
• It is unknown who built it but this early gothic castle- which was later transformed into a chateau- is attributed to c. 13th century (1253-1278) Ottakar II of Bohemia (since he built Castle Bezdez (which you can see from Houska) and several others around the same time (1260-1280), but his father, 'One Eye' Wenceslas I (1230-1253), is also a good candidate. The Romanesque-gothic chapel of St. Michael was built first and, apparently, right on top of the hole sealing the breach.
• Much later, it was occupied by the Nazis in WWII. Occult experiments are said to have occurred here (of course).
• Throughout its history, there is apparently evidence that Houska sat empty for long periods of time to the tune of years or decades possibly.
• Around 2013/14, a room was found at the level of the original foundation. It may have been a cistern for rainwater or storage for grain.

Reported oddities of castle placement:

• No known inhabited territory (looking at paintings on the walls suggest that there were villages nearby. I think this idea is busted.)
• No known trade route nearby
• Not near a known border
• Apparent militarily insignificant location (I don't know about this one. Bezdez, another smallish castle, was built fairly close to Houska.)
• Built in a forest on the edge of a cliff (which provides great views and makes it easier to defend)
• The forest is said to be poor for hunting (though there are paintings of deer, foxes, horses, rabbits and a bear attack, and a current report posted on Trip Advisor mentioning an ‘infestation’ of grey rabbits in the area. This idea is busted.)

Oddities of the castle itself, but understand that the current castle does not look that same as the original:

• Apparently built ‘inside-out’: defences (that have since been removed) were facing the stone courtyard at the centre of the building instead of around the exterior which suggests the castle is meant to keep people (or whatever evil thing comes out of the crevice) in, rather than out, of the castle. In a way, like a prison.
• No kitchen (part of castle no longer there?)
• No water source (It was mentioned in the Researchers video that during WWII, children were kept in a room with a well, but this room has since not been found.)
• No rudimentary sewer system (part of castle no longer there?)
• Several outer windows are cosmetic having being sealed with rock on the inside (meh)
• No outer wall (If you look closely at the original painting, you can see the outline of a wall (crenels). Besides, you don't need much of a wall when it's built on a cliff. Busted.)

This is the painting of the original castle. It looks quite different. There are also several other paintings that continue the landscape which include several structures that appear to be other castles. Nothing suggests anything evil.


Apparently, a renovation took place at some point, where an over-layer of plaster was removed from the walls of the chapel which exposed the unknown original c. 13th century frescoes beneath. The usual images of the crucifixion, St. Michael and St. Christopher that you would expect to find in a church were found, but the two that really got people’s attention.

See Mapy for lots of good photos (not least of which are a few of the Castle Bezdez seen from Houska), but good images of the two chapel frescoes in question are hard to find.

The first one is a frame lift from the Thinkology video at 3:22. St. Michael thrusts a spear or lance down the throat of a fire-breathing dragon.


The second is a left-handed, female centaur or chimera, archer. This site described the fresco as the torso of the woman seemingly growing out of the top of a lion's head. She seems to be drawing her bow at the other woman (or man). Much is made of the 'pagan image' as well as the left-hand being associated with the devil, which feeds the 'portal to hell' idea. This is, apparently, the only fresco of this composition found in a chapel anywhere.


If I zoom out to a broader view, I run into the mountain Blanik. Located about 32 miles southeast of Prague, Blanik holds a well known folklore tale of an army of knights that sleep under the mountain to awake when 'Bohemia' is in its greatest need. It is said that being a day under the mountain is equivalent to a year on the surface, which ties in with the man who journeyed to the underworld and came back an old man. The ‘sleeping army’ is similar to the common folktale of the ‘sleeping king under the mountain’ or 'sleeping hero'.

Also, Wenceslas I, father of Ottakar II, is not to be confused with Wenceslas I (c. 907- 929/35) of Good King Wenceslaus fame who was murdered by his younger brother Boleslaus the Cruel. Drahomira, Good King Wenceslas’ mother, and daughter of a pagan tribal chief of the Havelli, became jealous of the influence Ludmila, Wenceslas’ grandmother, had over her son. Drahomira hired two noblemen, Tunna and Gommon, to murder her mother-in-law, Ludmila, at Tetin Castle. It is said she was strangled with her veil. Now, when I read this, I was almost positive I had read of another woman also being strangled with her veil somewhere. I thought it was in one of Laura’s books but I cannot remember where. Both Wenceslas and Ludmila went on to become saints but I kinda wonder if these two ever existed at all.

I don't know how or why this story became attached to Houska Castle but I get a sense that it is a very mixed tale possibly acting as a cover for something like comets and plagues.

 

[Laura]

Well, I would certainly like to check it out. If any members are close enough, can you try and take photos while there?

 

[Benjamin]

Well, I would certainly like to check it out. If any members are close enough, can you try and take photos while there?

Unfortunately it looks like the place is only open from April to October. (Official site)

There is very little info about this place in English. There is more info in Czech but even that's not saying much apparently. But after looking around a bit more, I found some more info.

This part is basically a summery of the intro of a 'deep dive' podcast (Part 1- 1:43:01) about the creation of Houska Castle. It's a bit different then the first version I posted but has more detail:

The 'wooden structure' on the site preceding the castle may have been built by the Sorbian prince Slavibor (b. c. 827, Mělník, Czech Republic, 16 miles southwest of Houska), father of (Saint) Ludmila of Bohemia (c. 860- Sept. 15, 921) (who is not to be confused with Ludmilla of Bohemia (c. 1170- Aug. 14, 1240) who is first cousin to 'One Eye' Wenceslas I). Prince Slavibor was so fond of his son, Hošek, that he built a wooden fortress for him and named it 'Houska' in his honour, even if he was aware, or not, of an old curse apparently upon that land, at least from the time of the Celts. Apparently, Hosek never occupied the fortress because just as people started to reside in the area, the limestone cracked just outside the boundary of the fortress creating a great chasm from which all manner of evil spirits, half-human/half-animal chimeras that could fly, emerged to ravage all living things. "Men in the area were struck down and afflicted with crippling conditions. Livestock were killed and crops in the area wilted away." Castle Houska and the surrounding area was abandoned for what could have been 400 years. Around 1280-1290, Hynek Berka of the Dubá clan with permission of Ottokar II, decided to build a new stone castle on the outcropping of rock of which there are records of Ottokar II ownership from 1316. Berka tried to have the crevice filled but it could not be, so he struck a deal with some imprisoned men sentenced to death from his village that they would be pardoned if they chose to be lowered by a rope into the chasm and report what they found down there. Apparently, many agreed. The very first man to be lowered deep within began to scream in horror, begging to be brought out. The man's hair had turned completely white and had the appearance of having aged several decades. He babbled about a horrible stench, total darkness and distant screams before sanity left him altogether, dying two days later of unknown causes. The other men, who could still be convinced, followed the same fate. The castle that Berka built would seal the pit and ensure no vile creatures would escape, and if they did, the defences around the inside of the courtyard were hoped that they wouldn't get very far.

This photo shows the inner courtyard of Houska. The 'pit of hell' seems to be located under the centre stone slab which looks like it might have been home to a statue. Now it's just a three-foot deep wishing well. The defences of this 'inside out' castle are a little hard to see. The obvious one is the walkways all the way around on two levels. Ok. So what? I've looked at images of the courtyard from every angle. Notice how there are no stairs. If the doors are closed, and you can't fly or leap, how do you get out? Arrows, spears, oil, fire... holy water... chairs... anything...



The centaur/chimera fresco is located at the back of the chapel above the door leading to the circular stairway to the walkway above. On the wall to the left, there is another fresco that shows a flying angel holding a set of scales.



'Houska' does not show up on etymonline but the name apparently translates as 'bun'. It's an actual thing, too. A traditional Czech braided loaf of bread is called a houska. Now, this is not exclusive but I see a lot of recipes for houska as a fruit bread served at Christmas similar to the German stollen. It seems to tie in well with Good King Wenceslas. Etymonline says this about 'bun':

bun (n.)

"small, slightly sweetened roll or biscuit," late 14c., of obscure and much-disputed origin; perhaps [Skeat] from Old French buignete "a fritter," originally "a boil, a swelling," diminutive of buigne "swelling from a blow, bump on the head," from a Germanic source (compare Middle High German bunge "clod, lump"), or from Gaulish *bunia (compare Gaelic bonnach; see bannock). Spanish buñelo "a fritter" apparently is from the same source.

Now this carving of what looks like a plaited loaf of bread on a pedestal in the castle makes sense, but I don't know if it's original. I kinda doubt it.



There is another fresco on the Astonishing Legends site with the caption: "Another medieval fresco depicting what appears to be a scene of angelic benediction to the wretched." I have shopped this to make it clearer. There seems to be a badly faded person (with a halo?) facing the angel on the left while an angel stands behind a woman holding her raised arms (?). This fresco is just to the left of St. Michael skewering the dragon (seen in second image).



The above image is the fresco located above what apparently used to be windows in the chapel, and St. Michael and the dragon to the right. Click to expand. This image is from here.


By the sounds of it, birds are routinely found dead in the courtyard. There are reports from people of a large, black, headless horse (spewing blood- because phantom horses without heads do that) seen galloping around the area; a headless (decapitated) man (gushing blood too); a lady in white has been seen on the top floor of the castle; a report of two 'shadowy' men were seen walking in the castle and heard talking about killing young girls and then disappeared; strange sounds are regularly heard- it was said that once the crevice was sealed, screams and other noises and thumps could still be heard coming from under the floor in the chapel, and even to this day.

 

[Adobe]

Not to sideline the thread (being about the castle) but about the “hole to hell” there are many other stories that carry the same mysteries, and theories. Mel’s hole, in Washington state US for instances has them lowering not a person but a sheep, a bucket of ice and getting weird results, then calling Art Bell, who carried the story for some time, and it just keeps getting weirder from there. Also, the story I posted about “Chaco Canyon New Mexico". Considered a hole to hell where demons of every type came out and molested and even eat the locals until the locals abandoned the area.

I’m going to post both videos (they’re not long) the Mel’s hole youtuber does a good job trying to be objective about his subjects, BUT he has a pet fish, partly animated that helps the presentation, it ok, in fact, I love the fish!

It doesn’t appear that these “hell holes” possible to other dimensions, are the same as the “portholes” the C’s have spoken of. For one, there seems to be more of them, and are perhaps dormant.

THEY OPENED A PORTAL INTO ANOTHER WORLD MYSTERIES OF CHACO CANYON NEW MEXICO​

They Opened A Portal Into Another World Mysteries of Chaco Canyon New Mexico

End Times Productions

www.bitchute.com

Another Dimension? Time Portal? Another Planet? What's at the Bottom of Mel's Hole?​

 

[Benjamin]

When I ran into Houska, I wondered if there were other stories like it specifically something built on top of a 'gateway to hell' to seal it. Well, I did come across another, sort of.

Lough Derg or Loch Derg is a lake in Ireland which surrounds Station Island. Built on this island is a minor basilica known as St. Patrick's Purgatory.

The wiki page sums it up:

St Patrick's Purgatory is an ancient pilgrimage site on Station Island in Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland. According to legend, the site dates from the fifth century, when Christ showed Saint Patrick a cave, sometimes referred to as a pit or a well, on Station Island that was an entrance to Purgatory.[2] Its importance in medieval times is clear from the fact that it is mentioned in texts from as early as 1185 and shown on maps from all over Europe as early as the fifteenth century. It is the only Irish site designated on Martin Behaim's world map of 1492.[3]

This is the foundation of the Christian legend:

Legend maintains that St. Patrick had grown discouraged by the doubts of his potential converts, who told him they would not believe his teachings until they had substantial proof. St. Patrick prayed that God would help him relate the Word of God and convert the Irish people, and in return, God revealed to him a pit in the ground, which he called Purgatory; by showing this place to the people, they would believe all that he said. By witnessing Purgatory, the people would finally know the reality of the joys of heaven and the torments of hell.[6]

And about the cave itself:

Although the cave has been closed since 25 October 1632, several descriptions by early pilgrims survive. They referred to it as a cave or cellar or as an enclosed pit. The entrance, which was kept closed and locked, was quite narrow: about 0.6 m (2 ft) wide and 0.9 m (3 ft) high. Once inside there was a short descent of about six steps. The cave was divided into two parts: the first was about 3 m (9 ft) long, probably with banked sides and only high enough to kneel in; after a turn there was another niche about 1.5 m (5 ft) long.[5]

Since the site has never been excavated, we can only rely at this point on these descriptions of the cave. However based on other archaeological excavations it seems clear that this was probably an ancient structure. Some have suggested a souterrain, a place for storing crops and animals. However, the size of the cave would make this seem very unlikely. A much more plausible suggestion is that it was one of the ancient sweat houses,[10] which were actually still in use in Ireland into the twentieth century. From modern practice we know that people would enter these small enclosed places to inhale medicinal smoke produced by burning various plants. The name "purgatorium" could possibly have been used here originally with its Latin meaning as a place for cleansing and purging—much like a modern sauna; especially since the modern notion of "purgatory" as a place for punishment in the afterlife did not come into common use until the thirteenth century.[11] The cave would then have been a place that people went to for physical or spiritual healing, even before it became associated with St. Patrick in the twelfth century as a place for strictly spiritual healing.

This is a map of St. Patrick's Purgatory drawn by Thomas Carve in 1666. Look for "Caverna Purgatory" for the location of the cave. (click to enlarge)


This appears to be quite a different situation to Houska, but there is one physical element that is the same in both cases.

This is a small cave that is on the walk up to get to the castle. You can see the rock is very squared off which suggests it has been worked by human hands. The similarity of these two caves is quite remarkable.


This (slightly cheesy) video shows the cave where the authors actually go inside it starting at 2:36. You also get a feel for the land around the castle.

 

[Benjamin]

I took a look to see if there were any folktales for the lake Lough Derg or Station Island since Houska had such a good tale. It's a pretty specific request but I did find this little bit that is part of a synopsis of the poem "Station Island" by Seamus Heaney published in 1984 and has nothing to with this topic.

The island within Lough Derg called Station Island or (more properly) St. Patrick’s Purgatory has been the site of religious pilgrimage for Catholics seeking penance or religious vision for many centuries, possibly since the advent of Christianity in Ireland. St. Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint, is said to have spent a week on an island in Lough Derg during his missionary work in the late fifth century, and to have been granted there “a vision of Purgatory and the torments of Hell,” though neither Patrick’s writings nor historical evidence place the patron saint at Lough Derg for any length of time (Cunningham, p. 11). Station Island may have received visitors even in St. Patrick’s era, and we know it to have been a site of monastic settlement in the ninth century and again in 1135 (Curtayne, p. 27).

It seems likely that the legend of Patrick’s vision is a combination of local lore with later tales of missionaries and pilgrims. For example, the lake takes its name (derg is Irish for “red”) from its ruddy color, legendarily drawn from the blood of a monstrous worm or serpent slain there by Conan, the son of the Irish giant-hero Finn Mc-Cool. Unable to injure the creature’s hide, Conan arranged to be swallowed along with the monster’s daily ration of cattle, then hacked it apart from the inside. Other versions of the legend have the serpent slain by St. Patrick, or, in a curious mixture, St. Patrick helping Conan by pinning the mortally wounded serpent to the lake-bottom as it bled to death. The actual ruddiness of Lough Derg’s waters is due to iron oxides from nearby rocks, but tension between the Christian and pagan origin myths of Lough Derg may be as important as the facts of chemistry.

The tradition of Patrick’s vision of Purgatory and Hell may also be related to the twelfth century narrative of the Knight Owen, a wandering Crusader who came to Station Island to fast and to do penance. (The later narrative may have crept back into the legends about St. Patrick, or the earlier story may have colored the tale of the Knight Owen. From this historical distance, it is nearly impossible to tell, since both men are known chiefly by the fantastic narratives told about them.)

The 'Finn Mc-Cool' mentioned is Fionn mac Cumhaill:

In Old Irish, finn/find means "white, bright, lustrous; fair, light-hued (of complexion, hair, etc.); fair, handsome, bright, blessed; in moral sense, fair, just, true".[3] It is cognate with Primitive Irish VENDO- (found in names from Ogam inscriptions), Welsh gwyn, Cornish gwen, Breton gwenn, Continental Celtic and Common Brittonic *uindo- (a common element in personal and place names), and comes from the Proto-Celtic adjective masculine singular *windos.[4][5]

Whose mother was:

...Muirne Muincháem "of the Fair Neck"[10] (or "of the Lovely Neck",[11] or "Muiren smooth-neck"[12])

 

[Maat]

I made a search in Google scholar to see if there was something and Houska Castle is cited in the below paper which, unfortunately is not readily accessible. But maybe someone here can have access to it. So, FWIW

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128153390000135#kys0010

Abstract:

The Gates to Hell in Antiquity and their Relation to Geogenic CO2 Emissions​

In Greek mythology, the netherworld is guarded by the three-headed hellhound Kerberos. For persons that passed away it was rather easy to find their way down to the realms of the shadows. Yet, there was no escape from the world of Hades. The gates to hell were used by the souls of the deceased but also by diseased people seeking cure or even prophecies. In ancient times, these gates to the abyss were always connected to unexplainable geo-biological phenomena. Vapors, deadly gases, darkness in caves, bubbling springs, and creeks changing their color were such places. In addition, localities where animals showed strange behavior or plant growth was irregular were selected for sanctuaries, oracles, or gates to the Hadean. Rather often but not always, the geogenic gas carbon dioxide plays a decisive role at these entrances, as it is colorless and tasteless but kills all aerobic life quite quickly at higher concentrations.

 

[Benjamin]

Just thinking about the crack, in the podcast above, they talked about how the area is limestone which erodes fairly easily and how water getting into cracks would expand when it freezes causing it to split. They eluded to the idea of a cavern and system of eroded passages possibly being under the castle. There is an idea that the 'wishing well' in the centre of the courtyard is actually covering a well that was dug to find water for the castle. I suppose that a guy being lowered by a rope to dig a very deep well could have broken through into a subterranean cavern... which would freak me right out! All of a sudden the ground gives way beneath you and freefall into total blackness, screaming in shear terror as your voice echos around the space sounding like other voices, until the guys at the top grab the rope, stop you from falling further and pull you out. I might lose my mind, too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had a look at some historical possibilities, if there were any.

As far a historical earthquakes go, Czechia has not seen very many. The vast majority happen on its borders. On this site there is an earthquake listing for Praha (Prague) in Nov. 1036 but is labelled DIST which means there is confusion between it being a local or distant earthquake. There is also an M4 for Dubá which is close to Houska but that's in 1914.

There have also been many (historical) landslides (site, cool map), one even for Castle Bezdez on Apr. 17, 1900. But none mentioned for Houska.

There are also three volcanoes in Czechia but they are long cold.

This site (all in Czech) lists known meteorites that have fallen in the Czech Republic. The oldest one (and one of the oldest recorded falls) fell in or around the town of Loket in 1400 and is known as Elbogen (which is the German name for the town). An iron meteorite, it originally weighed 107 kg (236 lbs.) and was sad to be the size of a horse's head. Loket is about 95 km west and a little south of Houska.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also thought about the frescoes in the chapel. It occurred to me that, at least some of them, are representations of constellations.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is also another odd story about Houska. This one comes from the mid-17th century about a Swedish soldier named Orontovi. This is the straight DeepL translation from the Czech. I'm posting two versions.

This one from here:

About Orontes, sorcerer and sorcerer

In the seventeenth century, Swedish soldiers led by Orontes, who was the owner of a black hen that made him immortal, settled in Houska Castle. The local people did not like the fact that the soldiers had settled the castle because they looted and plundered mercilessly in the area.

They decided to take the fate of Orontes into their own hands, so they commissioned two hunters named Jiranda and Mazanec. A local witch and psychic enchanted their rifles, and the hunters cast special bullets with which they shot Orontes when they lured him to a window. Oronto dies because he didn't have time to go get his black hen, but since then his black shadow has been walking around the castle looking for the hen, supposedly to help bring him back to life.

This one from here:

The legend of Orontes from the mid-17th century:

At the abandoned castle Houska, built at the beginning of the 14th century by the lords of Dubá, near Bezděz, in 1639 a group of villainous soldiers settled, whose leader was Oront, a former lieutenant in the Swedish army, who soon became the terror of the whole area... the belief took hold among the people that the Swedish robber escaped from danger by some magic and that he was certainly in league with the devil. The two hunters agreed to get Orontes. A local blacksmith enchanted them with flintlocks and lead bullets that would not miss. Just at the base of the castle hill stood an abandoned forge. Into this the two hunters crept, climbed up into the loft, and removed several shingles in the roof opposite the castle unobserved. Through the opening thus made they could see directly into the windows of the castle hall in which Orontes lived. One of the hunters shouted: "Orontes, hear me, Orontes!" Here the pane of the castle hall window opened, and from it the Swedish robber leaned out to see who was calling him. And when he saw one of them on the rock outcropping, he said, "What do you ask?" Suddenly there was a flash and the other hunter fired. The Swede, his forehead shot through, staggered to the window and just had time to call out: "My black hen here!" But it was too late for any magic, for at that moment Orontes sank dead to the ground.

 

[Benjamin]

Ok. So, there is a 2011 thesis written by Dana Kolářová on Houska Castle and the stories that surround it. She has done a marvellous job! Who has read it? Who sees these 'myths' from her perspective? Well, it's all in Czech, so that might be one reason. But only one.

I went through it yesterday and today, translating it in DeepL and then fixing what I could to make it understandable. DeepL did a great job so the fixes were minor, but not perfect, and it still has some oddness that is beyond me. Regardless if you read it, you'll understand her work just fine. I left out the table of contents. I also left out all the references originally at the bottoms of the pages. It made a mess if I put them in the translated version. I could have put them in one big block at the end but that was messy too. If it matters, I've uploaded the original Czech pdf (Hrad Houska Thesis). I did leave in the bibliography.

I can't really give a synopsis since there are way to many details that create the ecosystem. But I'll say this: a Czech article came out in 1997 which coloured the public's view, Houska was opened to the public for the first time in 1999, and then the media storm ensued for 10 years after that. That should give you an idea of the 'myth'. I think I was on the right track with the cave, though. I just forgot about the 'sacrifices on high places' bit.

If you need it, here are a few links for reference of things mentioned in the thesis:

Karel Hynek Mácha- poet
Spolana Neratovice- chemical company
Offero- legendary hero
There is also a mention of "...they were also people with a star...". Those people were Soviet officials of some sort.

There are still many questions to be asked, but in relation to the 'myth' as written, imo, is a campfire story.

 

[Benjamin]

In the thesis, it was mentioned that the fresco of St. Christopher bore the resemblance of Offero, a Canaanite giant who sought to serve the greatest prince, since his strength was so great, and serving any lesser prince would not befit his stature.

As I mentioned before, good photos of the frescoes themselves are hard to find. In a frame lift from the "Portal to Hell" video posted above, there is this lucky shot of reproductions of some of the frescoes. On the left is the angel holding the scale mentioned earlier; St. Michael and the dragon; two saints (part of a group of four that I found another frame lift for); and St. Christopher holding Jesus as a child on his shoulder. In the story, Offero holds a child on his shoulder as he crosses a raging river during a storm, steadying himself with a palm tree, used as a walking stick, from the dangerous footing of the riverbed. I did not know the story of Offero. A simple but powerful tale that seems to reflect the global and individual significance of our time. In his journey, he leaves the service of Satan to seek the service of Jesus.

As a note, just behind the St. Christopher poster is the doorway of the circular stairway that leads up to the wooden walkway at the back of the chapel. Above the doorway is the fresco of the centaur lady.


In the thesis, the chapel has been dated to the 1370s. It was mentioned that the centaur lady fresco is not that odd. St. Michael and the dragon is the strange one.

This is an interesting one. There are five people in this scene. The man on the left looks very Asian to me. The two men on the right are carrying a pole between them on their shoulders. A man is draped over the pole backwards! His arms and legs might be tied together. The fresco to the left of this one is St. Christopher on the right side of a doorway. On the other side of the doorway is the angel carrying the scales and to the left of that, in the corner, is the centaur lady archer pointing an arrow at a man with folded arms against his chest.


To the right of the one above is this badly degraded scene. The first man holds a cross (?) like an 'X' in both hands. The next man appears to be holding a sword or a pole (?) with a long banner that's fluttering above the heads of the next two.


The next one is the Crucifixion scene. This one is at the head of the chapel on the wall behind the altar. Notice the two other 'convicts' on either side of Jesus are not crucified the same way.


The next fresco to the right of the Crucifixion is of four men, though the 2nd from the left might be a woman. The man on the right is carrying a stick or torch, perhaps., though it's not lit. There is a fresco above this one but I can't find a picture of it. The next fresco to the right is the two angels and the two people and the next one to the right is St. Michael and the dragon.


In the thesis, Celtic runes were mentioned being found in the castle. This is a frame lift of those runes. I think these are too clean to be originals, but that doesn't mean they're not original to the castle. I believe they are in the, what is now, a restaurant or gift shop at the front of the building. This picture was taken at night through the window.