[1] Erected between 1260 and 1280 on the phonolite hill of Velký Bezděz, 604 metres (1,982 ft) above sea level, it became the characteristic landmark of the local landscape and met the demands for an inaccessible as well as respectable royal castle.

As an adult, and ruling monarch, he returned to Bezděz to order the construction of a chapel, one of the best preserved areas of the castle today.

[3] It served for this purpose until the Thirty Years' War when, as part of the round of confiscations after the Battle of the White Mountain, it fell into the hands of Albrecht of Wallenstein.

[2] In 1686 Stations of the Cross were built along the path to the castle and the whole complex served for religious purposes until 1785, when the monastery was dissolved on the orders of Joseph II.

Parts that are accessible to visitors are the castle precincts including the royal palace, burgrave's house and the unique early Gothic chapel.