Hrubá Skála

Hrubá Skála (German: Groß Skal) is a village and municipality in Semily District of the Liberec Region in the Czech Republic. It is located about 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Turnov within the Bohemian Paradise landscape area. The municipality also comprises the villages of Bohuslav, Borek, Doubravice, Hnanice, Krčkovice, Rokytnice and Želejov. Hrubá Skála Castle situated on a steep sandstone cliff was first mentioned in a 1353 deed, then a possession of the Waldstein (Wallenstein) dynasty. In 1821 Franz de Paula Adam von Waldstein sold the estates to the Aehrenthal noble family, the later Austro-Hungarian foreign minister Count Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal was born here in 1854.