The main landmark of the town of Nejdek is the Romanesque castle tower. It is supposedly the remnant of a castle which was built around 1300 on a granite spit, beneath which the Rolava River flows. The tower was occupied until 1790, when the last watchman left with his family because of the deteriorating condition of the tower. In 1831, the tallest tower section was removed to prevent its potential collapse.
The amazing shape of the Rock of Nejdek - also called Knížecí nos (Prince’s nose) – was formed by the weathering and removal of softer rock sections along naturally occurring ruptures, by water erosion caused by Rolava’s flow as well as by quarrying work. The Rock is composed of coarse-grained biotite granite, which has a light grey to slightly pink color. Granite is an intrusive igneous rock mainly composed of quartz, feldspar (orthoclase and plagioclase) and mica (biotite – black mica, muscovite – white mica).
The various types of granite are typical rocks found in the whole region. They form the extensive Karlovy Vary Pluton, which contains significant deposits of tin, iron, uranium and other ore. Quartz and feldspar, which were used in the manufacture of porcelain, were also extracted from veins penetrating the massif in the surroundings of Nejdek.Granite, traditionally used as a building material, was quarried in numerous open pits until the 20th century. Deposits of high quality kaolin formed in the region of Karlovy Vary, due to the weathering of the granite.
The Rock of Nejdek was also admired by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. In 1786, while travelling from Schneeberg in Saxony to Karlovy Vary, he was so impressed that he made a drawing of it. Today, a plaque is located on top of the Rock. It is dedicated to Ignaz Sichelbarth (1708–1780), a native of Nejdek, Jesuit missionary, principal painter and mandarin to the Court of the Emperor in Peking.