Plánice - Kratice
The village of Kratice was previously divided between several owners. We find the next report about the village in 1393, when the virgin Stanislava died, who had a dowry registered here. Later, Kratice became part of the Zelená Hora estate, where it remained until 1584, when it was acquired by Ladislav of Šternberk. Kratice then became part of the Šternberk family estate.
We do not know exactly when the Gothic fortress was built in the courtyard. It was at least a two-story tower standing next to the farm facilities. We also know nothing about its fortifications.
When in 1587 Ladislav of Šternberk sold a part of the fortress and the riverside yard in Plánica, he converted a Kratic Gothic fortress into his residence. At that time, he added another part to the tower, thus creating a twice as large three-story Renaissance building with dimensions of 21 x 9.3 meters, which is still called Barbora.
The Kratická fortress ceased to function as a manor house after 1638, when the Šternberks sold the planic manor to Jaroslav Bořita from Martinice.
Historian Jiří Úlovec writes in his book Castles, castles and fortresses of Klatovska: "The three-story building covered with a low hipped roof was considered in the past to be a Renaissance new building from the end of the 16th century. The building survey proved its significantly more complex development. The core is undoubtedly the two-story stone tower. The rooms on the ground floor and upper floors, lit by slit windows that are still partially preserved today, were covered with beamed ceilings.
The roughly sixteen-meter-high building of the Gothic and later Renaissance-extended fortress was later rebuilt in the Baroque style, which turned the building into a granary. In the past, it served as a warehouse for the needs of JZD J.K. Tyl in Lovčice. It is now privately owned.
Source: Ing. Martin Kriz
