Krupka was established prior to 1330 (when the castle and town are first clearly recorded), and its development is closely linked with tin mining. The town manifests a typical medieval layout, orientated as it is to the topography of the area, overlooked by Krupka Castle that dates from the 14th century. There is great artistic and conservational significance in the sacred buildings: the Gothic town Church of the Assumption with rectory and an important late Gothic bell tower, St. Anna Church, originally a Renaissance church, the Gothic Church of the Holy Ghost as well as the town houses dating from the Gothic, Renaissance and the Baroque periods.
Krupka Castle is located on a high rocky promontory above the steep western side of Krupka valley. In 1330, Bohemian king John of Luxembourg bestowed the castle, the town of Krupka and its tin mines on a Saxon nobleman to protect the merchant route to Meissen and the Krupka tin mines. It was remodelled between 1471 and 1482 into an impressive Late Gothic fortress but during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648) it ceased to fulfil its defensive and residential functions and fell into disrepair. In the courtyard of the Krupka castle, the building of the former mining office (now a restaurant) can be found which was built between 1695 and 1697.
The Late Gothic church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (kostel Nanebevzetí Panny Marie) was built by 1488 on the site of an older Gothic church (founded before 1383) following a disastrous fire of the town in 1479. Between 1735 and 1735 the Baroque Holy Stairs were constructed in the church as a place of pilgrimage. Next to the church, a Baroque parochial house is situated. A tall rectangular miners’ bell tower is situated above the church. It was completed by 1493, though its present appearance dates back to around 1600. The bell tower announced the beginnings of miners’ shifts.
