Skalka Castle was built in the early 14th century. The first proven owner was Petr von Skalka between 1357 and 1360. In 1418, Skalken came to Hans von Sullowitz and remained in the possession of the noble family Cappleri de Sulewicz until 1540. In 1639 the Swedes burned the castle and it was not rebuilt.
At the end of the 17th century, Jan Hrzán von Harras built a Baroque palace at the foot of the castle rock. The building material was obtained from the decaying castle, so that today, apart from the picturesque keep, which is not accessible, no other remains of the castle complex are preserved. Inside the tower, which last served as a hunger tower, inscriptions from the 17th century by prisoners have been found.
After the expropriation of the Schönborns, the castle served as a storage facility for the Litoměřice State Regional Archives from 1945 . In 1959 some repairs were made to the building. The castle has been owned by the Vlastislav Municipality since 2001. After repairs have been carried out, the second floor can be used for exhibitions and cultural events. The ground floor and first floor are in poor structural condition; security measures will continue to be carried out on the building fabric. The interior of the castle has not been preserved.
References:The Jan Hus Memorial stands at one end of Old Town Square. The huge monument depicts victorious Hussite warriors and Protestants who were forced into exile 200 years after Hus, and a young mother who symbolises national rebirth. The monument was so large that the sculptor designed and built his own villa and studio where the work could be carried out. It was unveiled in 1915 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Jan Hus' martyrdom. The memorial was designed by Ladislav Šaloun and paid for solely by public donations.
Born in 1369, Hus became an influential religious thinker, philosopher, and reformer in Prague. He was a key predecessor to the Protestant movement of the sixteenth century. In his works he criticized religious moral decay of the Catholic Church. Accordingly, the Czech patriot Hus believed that mass should be given in the vernacular, or local language, rather than in Latin. He was inspired by the teachings of John Wycliffe.