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Castle, resembling also a number of other bergfried-type castles built by the highest strata of the provincial aristocracy during the reign of the kings Wenceslaus I and Přemysl Ottokar II. It consisted of a massive cylindrical tower, visible from afar and protecting access from the north, a strong wall and a modest-sized stone palace housing several rooms, built most likely in the best protected, south-western, corner. The many-branched noble house experienced its greatest economic and social rise during the rule of the founder of its Šternberk lineage, Štěpán of Šternberk (†1357). Numerous documents give evidence that Štěpán, who held the post of the Moravian Provincial Governor, had close ties to the Prague court of King Charles IV, a fact reflected also by his main Moravian residence. It was probably during his rule and the rule of his successor, the Litomyšl Bishop Albert II of Šternberk (ca. 1322–1380), that a large castle palace came into being, situated on a regular L-shaped ground-plan in the western and the southern area of the castle compound. The edifice absorbed the older structures and its main extension was the western part, using some of the masonry of the older fortifications that had been surrounding the oldest castle core. Up-to-date research confirms that the then palace had three floors and vast cellars. The castle also housed a magnificent chapel, which was added to the southern wing after 1360 and still bears the coats of arms of its builder, Albert II of Šternberk. Although it is only the presbytery of the original High Gothic chapel that has survived, it is obvious that it ranked among the most remarkable religious structures in Moravia of its day, one that could have been rivalled only by architectural projects linked with the most distinguished members of the royal court. Albert II’s legacy was taken up by his nephew and simultaneously the last male descendant of the Šternberk line, Petr of Šternberk (†1397), whose spouse was probably Princess Anna (†1405), a daughter of the Moravian Margrave John Henry. After their death, the castle was acquired by the powerful House of Kravaře and afterwards by the Kostkas of Postupice. More substantial architectural modifications of the castle, however, did not take place until the rule of the ancient and noble BohemianMoravian House Berka of Dubá. The castle’s expansion within