The Castle’s Illusions

Northwest of Jilemník, in the woods, lie the ruins of Ronovec Castle, originally Sommerburg, the Summer Castle, founded in the thirteenth century. It has been ruined since 1554. People said great treasures lay beneath it. A splendid open coffin supposedly sometimes appeared, containing a dead man in a general’s uniform with a sword at his side. Beside it stood a great chest full of gold, silver and precious jewels. According to legend, a woman who accidentally wandered here once witnessed these apparitions. In a sudden impulse she pierced the corpse with the sword, and the treasures immediately vanished underground. Many years must supposedly pass before they appear again. Treasure was sought here throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1871 even Wels, owner of the Břevnice estate, was lured by the prospect. Despite vigorous digging he found nothing and merely hastened the castle’s destruction.