Březnice Castle was built in the 13th century. An original gothic fortress consisted of a peripheral wall, a double-storey housing palace and a single storey building, it is preserved till now in rests in the masonry of the Renaissance castle.
The castle was besieged and conquered in Hussite wars by the troops of the Catholic lords and captured. Damaged castle remained uninhabited for some time. In 1506 the family of Malovec z Chýnova and on Vimperk got an already partially repaired building, but substantial adaptations were started by Petr Malovec, who enlarged the fortress by internal fortifications with a water ditch and a rampart with bastions.
The castle is surrounded by a Renaissance garden and English landscape garden. Historically significant is its library from 1558, one of the oldest in Bohemia. The castle is open to the public.
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.