i have said `` the nearest inhabited village , '' because there is , only three miles westward , that is to say in the direction of general spielsdorf 's schloss , a ruined village , with its quaint little church , now roofless , in the aisle of which are the moldering tombs of the proud family of karnstein , now extinct , who once owned the equally desolate chateau which , in the thick of the forest , overlooks the silent ruins of the town .