Legend has it that the Houska Castle was built on a rock, under which the entrance to hell is located. Under the castle itself, there are supposedly many underground passages that will lead you to hell. According to legend, there were gates that opened the way to a mysterious dungeon. But about where exactly these gates were, information has not been preserved. According to one version, the gate was located near the castle, where a small baroque church once stood.
Another version claims that the gates to hell were in the castle itself, and they are still hidden under the floor of the prayer hall. Therefore, it is no coincidence that people who enter the prayer house feel bad, many even lose consciousness, and the dogs, in general, completely refuse to go there. There is also a third version, according to which one could get to hell by diving into a well in the courtyard of the castle. The rumor about the terrifying dungeon was aggravated by the old legend about the convict, whom the owners of the castle themselves promised pardon on the condition that he descends into the witch's gorge and finds out what is hidden in its depths. The suicide bomber accepted this offer, but after walking only a few meters down, he asked with a desperate cry to return to the surface. Stretching out the unfortunate, the witnesses saw a frightened man with gray hair from horror, absurdly asserting,that below he saw the devil in hell, which does not exist in hell. A few days later, the convict died.
Local residents immediately wanted to fill up the hellish gorge, but in vain - the stones in it disappeared as in a bottomless throat. This was possible only after three years of hard work by the owner of the castle, Jan the Younger from wartenberg. A monument of Central European importance is the palace chapel, with wall paintings from the 13th and 14th centuries, under which, according to an ancient legend, is the gate to hell. And so, for the sake of reliability, over the filled up "Abyss of Nothingness" the chapel gradually grew as a kind of holy giant gate against the penetration of demons, not the light of day. This chapel, the second in the castle, is one of the most mysterious in central Europe. On the east side, it is closed by five sides of an octagon, on the west side, it is framed by a tribune accessible from the outer terrace or by a spiral staircase leading from the bottom of the chapel. Its silhouette seems to embody sacramental geometry with the digital meaning of mystical cabalism. At the altar, the chapel is divided into 8 parts, while on the ninth side - the end of the universe - the altar is oriented to the East. Frescoes, presumably from the 30s, are of considerable historical and artistic interest. From the 14th century, preserved almost in their original form, which, in terms of themes, again, are included in the most valuable collection of monuments in Central Europe. They include, for example, two large figures of the Archangel Gabriel and the Archangel Michael - the "Leader of the Host of the Lord" against the fallen angels and the protector from the forces of darkness and evil. Overlooking the podium is Saint Christophe, a celebrated martyr of the 3rd century. Nearby are the frescoes of the offer, Herod, who turned into a man and, in his time,was perceived as an alchemical allegory of the bearer of gold.
The following frescoes very clearly depict the battle between good and evil, of which the most specific is the figure of a mysterious warrior with a huge bow. However, its meaning remains undisclosed to this day. There are still no answers to the questions why so many dead birds fall in the vicinity of the castle, and the dogs behave restlessly and pull their owners away from the devilish place. Why are voices and moans heard from the depths of the empty well? Why are the archangels Michael and Gabriel depicted on the walls of this well - in Christian mythology, the main fighters against the devil? And why are there so many images of strange creatures - half human, half lion? A letter from Vaclav Hajek from Lubočany, who lived in the 15th century, has survived. He wrote to his brother Eduard: “I was walking through the forest, not far from the town of Gouska. Suddenly a rock cracked under the hail, a hole formed,and from this hole evil spirits began to appear and turn into animals. »This mystical haze of mystery around the castle of Gouska has not dissipated for centuries.
Promotional video: