Bítov Castle

Originally a wooden castle (built on the site of a former settlement fortified settlement), it was soon replaced by a stone castle as a landlord’s castle, guarding the southern border of the country. From the beginning of the 13th century, the western tower has been preserved. Bítov, which used to be the centre of one of the six Moravian regions, after the extinction of the Přemyslids, fell into the hands of the untamed Lichtemburks for more than two hundred years. Behind them, the core of today’s castle chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (1334) was built and in the base of today’s castle palace, both entrance towers, gable wall and southern wing. At the turn of the Renaissance and Baroque, Bítov acquired its predominantly horizontal appearance in the mass with a single vertical slender watchtower. Between 1811 and 1863, the already dilapidated castle was finally modified into its present, predominantly neo-Gothic form under Count František and his son Jindřich of Daun. The bizarre charm of Bítov is completed by numerous collections of zoo preparations – a reminder of the collecting activities of the last owner, Jiří, Baron Haas (+1945) and his famous Bítov Zoo, one of the largest private zoos on the continent. The most sought-after is the collection of fifty stuffed dogs of various breeds, the largest of its kind in the world.