Tha stately castle on e high rock in the middle of a deep valley over the Teplá river descends with its chateaux towards a rocky ridge with a picturesque little town. The beginning if the local settlement dates back to the early Middle Ages when, on the site of the present church, there used to stand a customs-house guarding the crossroads of the important trade routes. The castle in its present position is first mentioned in 1314 in connection with the Czech colonization of the region as a seat of the Czech house of Hrabišic of Osek. This House of Osek, later recorded of Rýzmburk, supported tin mining, and in 1399 succeeded in promoting the village to the status of a town. The castle and the large estates belonged to this House even at the beginning of the 15th century. There subsequently came various owners; in the Hussite revolts the castle was plundered by the Hussite captain Jakoubek of Vřesovice. In 1495 the estates were bought by the Pluhs of Rabštejn, who further developed tin nining and thus made a fortune. In Slavkov they built an ostentatious house in which they were occasionally staying. Kašpar Pluh of Rabštejn, who was of the Lutheran denomination and who ranked among the most powerful men in the kingdom, led the first uprising of the Estates against Ferdinand I Habsburg. After the revolt had been suppressed, he was stripped of all ranks and possessions, and in order to save his life he fled to Meissen. Even if under a new monarch he was allowed to come back, he lived till his death (1585) without any properties and former ranks in Sokolov. The Bečov estates served all this time mainly as a pledge for the debts of the Emperor´s chamber. The Thirty Years´ War ended the period of tin prosperity. At the time the castle was thoroughly fortified and there were many troops there. After the war the whole estates, as well as all the kingdom, was in decline and it deteriorated. Bečov Castle was described as "desolate", and the greater part of the fortification had to be removed. After 1624, the castle was owned by the Questenbergs. In 1752, when the Emperess gave up her royal rights to Bečov, the Kounic house obtained it. Under them, the Late Baroque chateau was built with a bridge over the former moat. In 1813, the entire estates were purchased by the Belgian Duke Fridrich Beaufort-Spontini. In the years to come, instead of old unsuitable routes, new roads were built to Pilsen, Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně, roads which are still used even today. In the middle of the District Court. At the beginning of the 1870´s, Beaufort had all the houses along the river below the castle pulled down and replaced by a park. At that very time some building alterations as well as demolitions were carried out, following the designs of the architect Josef Zítek. After World War Two, because of the Beauforts´ active collaboration with the Nazis their property was confiscated and divided among various owners. The castle served as a school, the Pluhovsky Palace and the castle were intended to become a museum. In 1969 the Pilsen National Trust obtained the whole castle and chateau premises, and gradually embarked upon their reconstuction. This work culminated in 1996, when the Baroque castle was ceremoniously opened to the public. At first, there was seen the exhibition of West Bohemian Gothic art, later the chateau exhibition of the rerurned movables was installed. It is now situated on the second floor, for the whole first floor is dedicated to a unique presentation of "the discovery of the century"- the Romanesque reliquary of St. Maur.