Orphans castle is a ruin of a Gothic castle, which is located above the village of Klentnice in Pavlovské vrchy. The beginnings of the local castle date back to the 13th century, when it was built by the Wehingen family, then the castle belonged to the Liechtensteins and the Dietrichsteins, and was abandoned in the 16th century. It has been protected as a cultural monument since 1964.

The castle was built in the middle of the 13th century by the Swabian Wehingen family, or rather their offshoot, which was founded by the knight Siegfried Sirotek. After the extinction of the Wehingen family, the castle came into the possession of King Wenceslas III in 1305, who was assassinated a year later. Then it fell into the hands of the Liechtensteins. In 1575 it was transferred to the hands of the Dietrichsteins, by which time it was probably desolate. Although the land register from 1560 does not mention the Orphan's Castle, in 1590 it explicitly describes it as desolate.

Story

The orphan's castle is also associated with the legend of the knight Čičos, who belonged to the Order of the Templars. He worked like a castellan in the castle. When his son was to be born, Čičos received a summons to his order. However, due to the birth of his son, Čičos refused. Shortly afterwards, a commander arrived at the castle, whom Čičos's wife Růžena asked to go to the newborn child as a godfather. According to the traditional custom, the name of the child is chosen by the godfather. The commander accepted the offer and gave the child the name Orphanus ("orphan").

After the birth of the child, he commanded the commander to execute Chichos for betraying the order, making Orphan a real orphan. Then he had all the inhabitants of the castle executed (except for one), while the widow of Čičos's heart broke with grief. The commander left the castle and took Orphana with him. When he returned to the castle years later, he found the only person there - an old man who had once escaped the Commander's wrath. When the old man told him what had happened to his parents then, Orphanus had gone mad and had been riding from the castle to Turold at night ever since.