The story of this place
Wrapped in a horseshoe bend of the young Vltava, Český Krumlov grew up around a castle first recorded in 1240 and ruled for three centuries by the mighty Rožmberk family, whose emblem — a five-petalled red rose — still marks the town. Its second-largest castle in the country climbs the hill in tiers, guarded by a moat where bears have been kept since the 16th century. Within survives one of the world's rarest treasures: a fully working baroque theatre of 1766, complete with original stage machinery, painted scenery and costumes. Below, a maze of cobbled lanes and Renaissance houses so completely preserves the medieval town that UNESCO listed it in 1992. Painter Egon Schiele made it his refuge.