RUINS IN POSÁZAVÍ

The castle is probably of royal foundation, although the beginnings of its history are not documented. The first written mention of Zbořený Kostelec (originally called Kostelec nad Sázavou) dates back to 1341, when King John of Luxembourg gave it as a pledge to Oldřich of Valdek, the owner of neighbouring Týnec.

The castle was built in approximately 1300 in a narrow valley on a promontory at the confluence of the Tisemský potok and Janovický potok rivers.  Ctibor of Kožlí was recorded as the first owner in 1318.  His successor was Kunrát of Kožlí from 1362 who lived there with his brothers Mareš and Heřman of Chvojno.

The castle of Zlenice was founded after 1300 on a rocky promontory, below which the Mnichovický Brook flows into the Sázava River. The name Zlenice is first mentioned in 1318, when Oldřich of Zlenice is mentioned. The castle was named after the extinct settlement of Zlenice, which lay on the other bank of the Sázava. However, the foundation of the castle in its present form can be definitely placed in the first half of the 14th century.

Dubá Castle, the ruins of which still loom on a wooded rocky promontory over the left bank of the Sázava River opposite the village of Poddubí, was established in the 13^th  century by one of the members of the Benešovic noble family.

Říčany Castle is one of the most important buildings of the Czech castle architecture of the time of the last Přemyslids. It was built at a time when half-timbered noble castles were being replaced by more robust Gothic castles and is therefore an example of the oldest stone castles in the Czech Republic.