Vranov nad Dyjí Castle

Vranov nad Dyjí Castle is one of the most remarkable buildings of the Central European Baroque. It was created by rebuilding from an old Romanesque Gothic castle, first mentioned as a landlord’s border fortress in 1100. From there, it retained two prismatic towers, part of the walls and the buildings of the so-called outer bailey. It was given its current appearance after a devastating fire in 1665 by the Counts of Althann. At the end of the 17th century – according to the project of the imperial architect Jan Bernard Fischer of Erlach – they first built and decorated the impressive hall of ancestors, dominating the local rugged landscape and artistically enhancing its distinctive charm. Immediately afterwards, they built the Chateau of the Holy Trinity as its ideological counterbalance. In the 18th century, the reconstruction was completed with residential buildings of the court of honor. The chateau was then acquired by the Polish Mniszeks, who brought the famous Vranov earthenware factory to flourish. The Stadnicki family, who were related to them, held the Vranov nad Dyjí Chateau until the beginning of World War II. Today, as a national cultural monument, it is in the care of the state.

Zbiroh Castle – Three Emperors Castle

The construction of the castle (from the end of the 12th century) surprises and amazes from all sides. Zbiroh has so many “bests” in its list that the fingers of one hand are not enough for them. Such a perfectly concealed castle as it was in the second half of the 20th century. Zbiroh, you would probably be hard pressed to find. And yet it used to be a famous residence and accustomed to the most noble inhabitants. It is not for nothing that it is now referred to as the castle of the three emperors. After all, Charles IV, Sigismund of Luxembourg and Rudolf II became its owners for a time. The original castle was built on the hardest jasper rock. The castle well, dug into this rock, is the deepest in Europe with its 163 m, so you can probably imagine that digging it was no honey. This tower even boasts of being the first independent castle tower in Bohemia. With its walls up to 4 m thick, 20 m high and 10 m wide, it is truly a more than impressive landmark of the entire castle. In addition, this whole building was not built by the will of the king, but by a mere nobleman, at a time when it was definitely not customary. Zbiroh thus became the first ever manorial castle in Bohemia. Zbiroh is also the place where Alfons Mucha created his largest canvases.

Zbiroh Castle – Alfons Mucha

Žleby State Castle

Originally a Gothic castle of the Lords of Liechtenburk from before 1289, rebuilt after the destruction of the Hussites before the middle of the 15th century, it underwent Renaissance and Baroque modifications and was rebuilt into its present romantic form by Karel Vincenc Auersperg in the years 1849 – 1868 according to English models. The romantic interiors mix original historical monuments with period elements and antiques imported from all over Europe. Leather wallpaper, stained glass collections, numerous wall coverings, luxurious furnishings and installations respecting period documents have preserved the chateau to this day as a kind of “utility collection of antiques” with a unique atmosphere and unique picturesqueness.

Klášterec nad Ohří Castle

Originally a Renaissance chateau located on the left bank of the Ohře River, romantically decorated in the style of English pseudo-Gothic, surrounded by a large English park, which is connected to the Kyselka spa area with mineral springs. The chateau is open to the public and is owned by the city as part of the conservation zone in the centre of the old Klášterec nad Ohří. In the park you will find rare trees and 220 species of trees from all over the world, and in the area you will find the Thun Tomb, the Sala Terrena and the sculptures of Jan Brokoff. In the historical interiors with stucco decoration, nothing has been preserved from the original furnishings, and today there is a rare exhibition of porcelain production from the very beginnings to the present day from the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. During the season, the castle lookout tower is accessible, and you can also visit the tomb in the adjacent Church of the Holy Trinity with a porcelain plastic pedigree of the Count Thun family, which owned the monastery estate continuously since 1623.

Orlík nad Vltavou Castle

The first written mention of Orlík dates back to 1230 – 1251, from the reign of Wenceslas I, when the archives mention the customs duty on the Vltava River at Orlík, which at that time was only a wooden castle. Reports from 1287 – 1288 prove that Orlík belonged to the royal possessions of King Wenceslas II. At that time, Zdislav of Šternberk is mentioned as a burgrave. In the 13th – 14th centuries, Orlík was rebuilt into a stone Gothic castle, which served as a stronghold and administrative center of royal power. Orlík remained in the hands of the Czech kings until 1357, when Charles IV granted it in a noble manor to his chancellor Dětřich of Portice, but he soon ceded the castle to his nephew, who was the royal burgrave at Vyšehrad.

In 1369, Charles IV donated Orlík to Hyncík Pluh of Rabštejn, who exchanged it with Zikmund Huler for his estates in Cheb.In 1407, Sigismund’s brother Ondřej Orlík sold it to Petr Zmrzlík of Svojšín, who was the highest mint master of the kingdom, but also belonged to Jan Hus’s party. After a devastating fire in 1508, Václav moved to Lnář, and in 1514 he sold the Orlík estate to Kryštof of Vamberk, who was also the owner of Zvíkov. Thus, Orlík became the seat of the economic administration of the Orlicko-Zvíkov estate. In the years 1514 – 1520, Orlík was thoroughly repaired and raised by one floor. In 1611, after the death of Petr Vok, the Orlík Švamberks became the heirs of the extensive Rosenberg property. After the resettlement of Jiří Vamberk, only the manorial administration remained in Orlík. In 1620, after the Battle of White Mountain, Orlík surrendered to the imperial troops. In 1623, Orlík bought Oldřich of Eggenberg from the emperor. The wife of the last childless Eggenberg was Marie Ernestina Schwarzenbergová, who bequeathed the entire Eggenberg property to her nephew Adam František Schwarzenberg, and so the Orlík estate fell into the hands of the Schwarzenbergs. In 1840 – 1860, the neo-Gothic modifications of the building itself, which were carried out according to the plans of the professor of the Prague Academy, Bernard Gruber, culminated. It is still in this form today. Near the chateau there is a large, natural landscape park with an area of 143 ha. In the western part of the park there is a pseudo-Gothic Schwarzenberg tomb.

Konopiště Castle – Sarajevo

It was founded as a medieval fortress by Tobias of Benešov. In its more than 700-year history , many important aristocratic families have been in possession – the Šternberks, the Hodějovský, the Vrtba, the Lobkowicz families. The castle got its current appearance at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, when the castle was owned by Franz Ferdinand d ́Este, the heir to the Austrian throne, who rebuilt the Konopiště castle into a magnificent seat of the future emperor.

Konopiště preserves an extremely rich collection of arts and crafts from the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Modern periods. The famous Esthenian armoury, which the Archduke had transferred to Konopiště from his Modena heritage, stands out, and which is one of the most interesting in Europe. Of the interiors, the best are the representative salons on the first floor, such as the Reception Salon and the Column Salon, both with extremely valuable Italian cabinets from the 17th century.

Ploskovice Castle

Ploskovice Chateau in the Litoměřice region, surrounded by a large park, is a great example of the High Baroque in the Czech Republic. Ploskovice Chateau is built on the edge of a terrain break turned into a terrace and for this reason it appears as a two-storey cave from the north, and three-storey from the south. The fault is compensated by artificial water caves, the so-called grottoes. In relation to the southern façade, the grottoes are the ground floor spaces of the chateau, in relation to the northern façade they are in the situation of cellars.

The chateau was built as a summer residence by Grand Duchess Anna Maria Františka of Tuscany in the first quarter of the 18th century. Originally, it was a smaller chateau, but its demanding Baroque decoration was carried out by the most important Prague artists, the painter V. V. Reiner and the plasterer T. Soldatti. In the middle of the 19th century, the chateau became the private residence of the retired Emperor Ferdinand V of Habsburg, the last crowned Czech king. On this occasion, the chateau was raised by one floor and completely modified.

The Ploskovice chateau is built on the edge of a terrain fault turned into a terrace and for this reason it appears to be two-storey from the north, and three-storey from the south. The fault is compensated by artificial water caves, the so-called grottoes. In relation to the southern façade, the grottoes are therefore the ground floor spaces of the chateau, in relation to the northern façade they are in the situation of cellars
The elaborate decoration of the Second Rococo interior was carried out by sculptors and plasterers V. Levý and M. Effenberger, and the beautiful paintings are the work of Josef Navrátil, one of the most important painters of Czech Romanticism. In addition to newer artistic additions, however, older stucco decoration has also been preserved, especially in the space of the sala terrena.

Kozel Castle

According to legend, the chateau owes its name to an old pagan custom of the Slavs, who sacrificed a goat in these places at the time of the equinox to appease the gods and in the hope of a good harvest. It is a classicist hunting lodge built as a seasonal, hunting residence at the end of the 18th century for Jan Vojtěch Černín. The four-winged ground-floor building around the rectangular inner courtyard was supplemented by two pairs of buildings – a chapel with a riding school and a footman with stables, which created a complete area surrounded by 30 hectares of natural landscape park. The original furnishings have been partially preserved in the chateau, which creates an idea of the furnishings of hunting lodges and summer residences of the nobility at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Průhonice Park and Chateau

The Průhonice Park was founded in 1885 by Count Arnošt Emanuel Silva – Tarouca.
Today, the park represents a unique work of the peak period of the natural landscape style in Europe. At the same time, it is an extremely valuable dendrological collection – an arboretum with a number of domestic and exotic trees. The most famous attractive species grown in the Průhonice Park is the Rhododendron warbler.

The park has been very large since its foundation, covering an area of approximately 250 ha in the beautiful rugged valley of the Botič stream and its tributaries. Stands of trees, groups of trees and shrubs alternate with open meadow areas, ponds and streams. The views and views of beautiful parts are masterfully chosen. The shape variability of the trees and their diverse colors in different seasons are skilfully used.

Chateau – is a dominant feature not only in Průhonice, but also in the surrounding landscape. Originally it was a Gothic fortress, the last time it was rebuilt in the years 1889 – 92 in the style of the so-called “Czech Neo-Renaissance”. The chateau (except for exhibitions) is not open to the public. It houses the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Romanesque church – is the oldest monument of the Průhonice area. It was consecrated in 1187, inside there are Gothic wall paintings from the 1st half of the 14th century. century.

CMQC recommends:

Of course, a walk in the park and also one of the most famous fairy tales Devils Are No Jokes (1984 Hynek Bočan) was filmed at the castle.