Featured: Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

Who's Online

There are currently, 536 guests and 6 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Hlízová Tower Zvíkov - Carving in Czech Republic in Bohemia

Submitted by ladrin on Monday, 26 March 2018  Page Views: 1189

Multi-periodSite Name: Hlízová Tower Zvíkov Alternative Name: Markomanka, Black Tower
Country: Czech Republic Region: Bohemia Type: Carving
Nearest Town: Milevsko  Nearest Village: Zvíkovské Podhradí
Latitude: 49.438700N  Longitude: 14.192391E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

Internal Links:
External Links:

Hlízová Tower Zvíkov
Hlízová Tower Zvíkov submitted by ladrin : Hlízová Tower AKA Markomanka is the oldest part of the gothic castle Zvíkov. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Sculptured Stone in Bohemia

Amazing gothic castle Zvíkov was built on the narrow promontory where the rivers Vltava and Otava meets. The castle was once built high above the river water. But that had dramatically changed in the middle of the 20th century when large damm of Orlík was constructed about 10km down the river and a vast lake suddenly surrounded the castle. To be honest...unlike other giant communist projects...I like this one. An absolutely exceptional scenery arised.

The castle stands in the place of prehistoric La Tène period fortress, which is obvious, because of its natural defensive position. Most archeological findings comes rom the 200-100 BC. It is also possible that not only the fortress but a large oppidum used to be here.

The oldest part of the castle is so called Hlízová tower. This massive 20m tall prismatic building is also known as a "Black tower" or "Markomanka". The origin of this tower is a quite mystery. Some assume that it is much older then the rest of the castle, which was built in 13st. The name "Black tower" is associated to the dark colour of the stones from which the tower is built. And this is the only building where such stones were used. Also the style of construction does not fit into the overall concept of the pure gothic castle somehow.

Theories say that Black tower comes from time, when the Romans were active in this region (about 2th AD) and used to construct such towers in cooperation with their Germanic allies. And that can be the clue for the next name "Markomanka". Tower was known under this name since medieval at least and the name is obviously related to the old germanic tribe "Marcomanni".

But the most mystery of the Black tower are enigmatic symbols carved into granite blocks. These characters can not be easily distinguished, but it seems that there is a 36 different types and some are repeated. Some experts believes that it is identification mark of medieval stonecutters. On the other hand there are no similar stonecutters marks preserved anywhere else. And so the Black tower keeps its secret.
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Hlízová Tower Zvíkov
Hlízová Tower Zvíkov submitted by ladrin : Aerial picture of the castle Zvíkov (photo rights Karel Jakubec, Karelj, Wikipedia) (Vote or comment on this photo)

Hlízová Tower Zvíkov
Hlízová Tower Zvíkov submitted by ladrin : The name "Black tower" is associated to the dark colour of the stones from which the tower is built. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Hlízová Tower Zvíkov
Hlízová Tower Zvíkov submitted by ladrin : Some experts assume that the symbols are identification mark of medieval stonecutters. And some believe in a prehistoric origin of enigmatic signs. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Hlízová Tower Zvíkov
Hlízová Tower Zvíkov submitted by ladrin : Enigmatic symbols carved into the granite blocks. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Flickr
2023-12-12 10-54-07_Dron
2023-12-12 10-48-06_Dron
20230411_114916
20230411_121016
20230411_120952
20230411_114744

The above images may not be of the site on this page, but were taken nearby. They are loaded from Flickr so please click on them for image credits.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 4.3km ENE 71° Obrovy Hroby (Giants graves)* Misc. Earthwork
 7.0km NE 47° Koška Menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 9.3km NNE 32° Vesec Stone Gate* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 9.7km NNE 22° Vesec Sphinx* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 10.2km NNE 32° Angel Stone Vesec* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 12.8km E 83° Milevsko stone cross I.* Ancient Cross
 13.2km SE 140° Olešná Propitiatory cross* Ancient Cross
 13.7km NE 41° Horychová 2* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 13.8km NE 42° Horychová 1* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 14.2km E 81° Menhir Milevsko* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 14.8km SSE 153° Chrestovice* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 15.1km SSW 192° Prehistoric Tumuli Písek* Chambered Cairn
 15.9km ESE 122° Bernartice stone cross 1* Ancient Cross
 16.2km S 172° Table of Bandits* Sculptured Stone
 16.8km NE 41° Vrškámen* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 17.0km ESE 122° Bernartice stone cross 2* Ancient Cross
 17.5km SE 139° Nemějice modern stone circle* Modern Stone Circle etc
 17.5km SE 135° Barrow Cemetery Nemějice Hůrka* Barrow Cemetery
 17.7km SE 139° Tábor sanctum and barrow cemetery* Barrow Cemetery
 18.4km SE 136° Stone Cross Nemějice* Ancient Cross
 18.7km NE 51° Králov Menhir* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 18.9km WNW 282° Černívsko Stone Circle* Modern Stone Circle etc
 18.9km NE 41° Husova Kazatelna* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 19.2km E 95° Sepekov barrow cemetery* Barrow Cemetery
 19.5km NNE 16° Logan Stone Vindiš* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Barbrook Cupmarked Stone

Dolmen Kokay mountain >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

The Old Straight Track, Alfred Watkins

The Old Straight Track, Alfred Watkins

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Hlízová Tower Zvíkov" | Login/Create an Account | 0 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.