The ruins of the Doubravka Castle

On a detached hill at the outskirts of Teplice stand the ruins of a late gothic castle built by Jan Ilburk of Vřesovice in 1478-86. Between the 16th and 17th century it was rebuilt into a fortress with a unique system of bastion fortification. The fortress played an important role during the Thirty Years War when it was alternately sieged and captured by the Swedish armies which plundered the region. After the war the Emperor Ferdinand III. ordered that the fortress be destroyed. Its ruins became a romantic place offering an exquisite view of Teplice to the spa attendants. In 1884-85 the Teplice prince Clary-Aldringen built a pseudo-gothic imitation of castle buildings which served as a sight-seeing restaurant.