ŠPILBERK FORTRESS

The Špilberk hill, which rises to the west of the city center, dominates the city without overwhelming it. Many visitors start by climbing the hill to get a bird's-eye view of Brno, before setting off to explore the city. Although the slopes of Špilberk are now wooded and make a lovely setting for a stroll, they were once left bare to facilitate the defense of the fortress built at the summit. The first Gothic enveloping castle dates from the ^13th century. It was from here that the Luxembourg family ruled Moravia in the ^15th century. But few traces of this fortified residence remain. It was completely remodeled in the ^18th and ^19th centuries. Over the centuries, the site was attacked, unsuccessfully, by the Hussites, the huge Swedish army (in 1645) and the Prussians. In 1805, Napoleon took possession without a fight, just days before the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1809, Špilberk was taken again and its outer defense system dismantled. The fortress was subsequently used as a prison, and it is to this sad function that Špilberk still owes its reputation today. It was first used as a detention center by the authorities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It became the empire's most famous prison, and a symbol of the struggle for independence of the various nations that made up the empire. One of its most illustrious guests was the Italian poet Silvio Pellico, who wrote his collection of pamphlets De mes prisons.