Frydek Chateau

The chateau in Frydek stands on a hill above the river Ostravice and is one of the great attractions for visitors in the Beskydy foothills. People can choose from a range of tours and there are wonderful views of the city and the Beskydy Mountains.

A fort of the Těšín Piast princes has been in existence here since the fourteenth century and by the late eighteenth century the estate, complete with a chateau was bought by the Habsburgs. Today you can see the chateau interior including the Chapel of St. Barbara and the Knights Hall.

The chateau is home to many legends. One of them says that the castle well is the entrance to an underground chamber from where secret passages lead to both the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and also to one of the palaces in the square. In fact, the well is a huge underground refrigerator in which meat was stored in the cold, deep cellars. However, various buried corridors have been found around the chateau but it is not clear where they lead as they have been blocked off.

In the chateau there is also a small chamber in which the bandit Ondráš was imprisoned. Although he still managed to escape, he was later caught and put to death.