Sunday, November 24, 2013

The Castle in Nové Město nad Metují

The Castle in Nové Město nad Metují - http://travel-for-impressions.blogspot.cz/























The history of the castle in Nové Město nad Metují is nearly identical with that of the town itself.  The castle is an integral part of the town's historical preservation area. Both the castle and the town were established in 1501. In the middle of the 16th century the castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance style, and again in the mid-17th century it was rebuilt in the Baroque style. The castle and garden were redone for the last time by the architect Dusan Jurkovic in the years 1909-1915 at the request of the industrialist family Bartoň-Dobenín. During the tour you can see original interiors from that time in the Art Noveau and Art deco styles. Pavel Janák, as well as many other influential Czech artists, contributed to the decorations. In the area surrounding the castle, small Baroque statues by Matthias Bernard Braun attract the attention of visitors. 

Křivoklát Castle


























The castle of Křivoklát belongs to the oldest and most important castles of the Czech princes and kings. The history of its construction starts in the 12th century. During the reign of Přemysl Otakar II. a large, monumental royal castle was built to be later rebuilt by king Václav IV. and even later generously enlarged by king Vladislav of Jagellon. The castle of Křivoklát was seriously damaged by fire several times. It became a feared prison and its importance sank rapidly. First during the Romantic époque of the 19th century (when under rule of the family of Fürstenberg that owned the castle until 1929) the castle was reconstructed - and saved. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

Castle Kost






















Kost castle is located in the Czech Republic, 80 Km north of Prague. This fortress was originally built after 1371, probably by  Beneš of Wartenberg, who  had  the long hall and tower  erected as a defensive castle. It was then acquired, in 1456 by John Hasenberg, but  he took part in a rebellion against his king ,George of Podebrad and  his son sold Kost castle and the castle Trosky to John of Schellenberg, in 1490. After 50 years, Jan of Biberstein had  the “Renaissance”  wing of the castle built, with the big kitchen. His niece inherited Kost castle, and her husband, Krisof Popel of Lobkowitz, added the brewery, the “Lobkowitz” palace and other farm buildings, which were fortified and joined to the castle. Albrecht of Waldstein’s plans to redesign Kost into a country home while remaining a stronghold were halted by his death in 1634. In 1635, a part of Kost Castle was destroyed by fire after which it ceased to be inhabited by the proprietors.  Bought by the Czernins of Chudenicz, the castle apartments were used as granaries at end of the 17th century. The Castle suffered during the 30-years-war and was supposed to be destroyed. After 1867 Kost castle was in part reconverted in neo-gothic style. In 1798 Casimir Netolitzky bought Kost and the surrounding lands and entailed the property,ensuring inheritance by male primogeniture. Kost castle later passed  by marriage to the dal Borgo Netolický family (1889)  and then to the Kinský dal Borgo family (1993). Kost Castle is dominated by the angular White Tower, which is five storeys high, the south-eastern part pointing towards the Plakánek valley. The tower is a part of the battlements erected from stone blocks. It was destined to the defence. The mansarde roof dates only from the 18th century. The Castle has a smaller cylindrical tower from the end of the 14th century close to  the main gate. Today Kost Castle is one of the major tourist attractions in the Czech Republic, also thanks to its charm, facinating exposition of authentic weapons and lifestyle in the middle ages. It is located in one of the most attractive regions of the Czech Republic: the "Český Ráj" meaning Czech Paradise due to the beauty of its nature and landscape. Visitors of Kost castle can enjoy the magical atmosphere of the surrounding forests and lakes while taking a bike tour or even tour the countryside by horse. The castle offers cultural visits but also many attractions such as a medieval tournament which happens under the castle walls. You can also get married at Kost castle or have your company event in one of the most beautiful and authentic Gothic castles in the Czech Republic. Kost castle in fact can be hired for a variety of events including weddings, company events, filmings and concerts. If your dream is to taste the life of the middle ages you can also rent the accomodation within the castle premises, which is comfortable, romantic, and offers a unique view. 

The Konopiste Castle























The Konopiste Castle was originally founded as a gothic fortress guarding a nearby town of Benesov. Being founded at the end of the 13th century by Tobias of Benesov, it was built at the beginning of the 14th century, following the model of french castles called "castels". The first touch to a medieval structure of the castle was made in the 15th century by Jiri (George) of Sternberk and was followed by Hodejovsky family in the 17th century, who converted the castle into a renaissance mansion. However, the most significant alteration took place in the 18th when members of the Vrtba family rebuilt the castle into a baroque residence. The utterly most important and famous owner of the Konopiste Castle was the archduke Fratisek (Franz) Ferdinand d'Este, a successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination in Sarajevo in 1914 became a pretext of the the World War I. This man bought the Konopiste domain in 1887 from the Lobkowitzs family and converted it into a magnificent seat of a Heir. The Chambers were richly decorated with the collections inherited from the Modena's archdukes of d'Este and numerous hunting trophies hanging on the walls as silent witnesses of Franz Ferdinand´s hunting passion. After visiting the interiors of the castle, a close baroque Rose Garden with a Greenhouse provides visitors of a serene place to stroll and absorb the whole experience of their visit of the Konopiste Castle.

Kokořín Castle


Kokořín Castle lies in the middle of a nature reserve on a steep rocky spur above the Kokořín Valley, north of the village of the same name. Originally, a medieval fortress carved in the local sandstone was built there in the days of the King Jan Lucemburský. The first recorded mention of Kokořín dates from 1320. In the same year Sir Jindřich of Osměchov recieved Kokořín manor from the nobleman Hynek Berka of Dubá who – some time in the middle of 14th century - had the original castle built. During the following centuries many prominent noble families owned Kokořín Castle for brief periods. These include, in the 15th century, the well-known warlord Jan Řitka of Bezdědice, Sir Aleš Škopek of Dubá who owned the castle during the Hussite wars, the lords of Klinštejn, Beřkov of Šebířov, Kuplíř, and Hrzán of Harasov gained control in the first part of the 16th century. Eventually, the castle ended up back in the hands of the noblemen of Berka. After the battle on Bílá Hora the possessions of the Berka family were confiscated and bought by the Wallenstein dynasty. After the death of Albrecht von Wallenstein the Kokořín castle was placed in the possesion of the king. By the 16the century the castle failed to meet the demands of the current living standards and had fallen into disrepair. After the Thirty Years War, Emperor Ferdinand III even ordered the castle to be ranked among the so-called "cursed" castles – ones that might no longer be maintained. The castle deteriorated rapidly and in following years it was owned in turn by a whole series of landlords. According to legend, the castle even came under control of robber barons, including Petrovský of Petrovice who spread fear throughout the region. By the end of the 19th century only ruins remained of the castle which, however, increasingly attracted the attention of a whole generation of poets and painters from the romantic period, e.g. K. H. Mácha, Josef Mánes and others. The castle entered into the general public’s awareness in 1895, when a model of its ruins was displayed by the Club of Czech Tourists at a national ethnographic exhibition in Prague causing the castle to be partially open for tourists. In the same year, the Kokořín manor, including the castle ruins, were purchased by Václav Špaček, a aristocrat from Starburg. He allocated a considerable amount of his finances to start complete reconstruction in 1911. Participants in the project for this imposing reconstruction were leading historians of the time (A. Sedláček, Z. Winter and Č. Zíbrt). The reconstruction was finished in 1918 by Václav´s son Jan Špaček who enhansed the original conception from cultural-patriotic dedication to the role of family memorial. Despite some objections to the style of reconstruction, based on the spirit of Late Romanticism, the project represented the first complete preservation of a medieval ruin in Czechia and its recovery by the public. After 1950, based on the agrarian reform laws, the castle was nationalized by the communist government. As late as in 2006, the castle was restituted to the hands of the Špaček family heirs. They intend to reassume the family tradition and keep this popular historical monument open to the public.

Castle Jindrichuv Hradec
























The castle and chateau complex of Jindřichův Hradec, which has spread over the area of three and a half hectares in the course of the centuries, grew from an original Slavic fortified settlement from the 10th century on a rocky headland above the confluence of the Nežárka River and the Hamerský Brook. The shallow valley incision of the brook was used, in the oldest times, for an artificial water reservoir – the later pond Vajgar, serving for the defence of this important fortress.The construction of the mediaeval castle, called “Novum castrum“ (the New Castle) in the oldest preserved historical record from 1220, is connected with the name of Jindřich Vítkovec, the founder of the independent Vítek branch of the Lords of Hradec, which used the coat-of-arms with a golden rose in a blue field. At that time, the round Black Tower and the adjoining palace came into being. The castle, later enlarged into a magnificent chateau, served the Lords of Hradec as their main residence until the family died out in 1604. The members of the family essentially influenced all economic, political and cultural events in this region and representatives of each generation held important positions at the royal court. The importance of the Lords of Hradec was expressed in the gradual enlargement of the residence, from the solid Romanesque-Gothic castle into a majestic Gothic fortress with a complicated artistic solution and flawless fortification. In the latter half of the 16th century, under Adam II of Hradec, the castle underwent aAdam II of Hradec radical rebuilding to a representative chateau, after the example of the pretentious palaces of the Italian Renaissance. The castle fortress thus became a luxurious residence that satisfied the most demanding requirements of a Renaissance nobleman. Under the management of Balthasar Maggi and a number of other Italian builders, Adam’s building and the Spanish wing were built in the third courtyard, and both these buildings were linked by great arcades, and behind them, as the crown of the then building activity, a little music pavilion, the Roundel. This grand reconstruction practically completed the architectural development of the complex. Adaptations made by later owners were only of a partial character and almost did not affect the Renaissance shape of the chateau. Vilém Slavata of Chlum and at KošumberkThe last member of the family of the Lords of Hradec married Vilém Slavata of Chlum and at Košumberk in 1602, and after the death of her brother Jáchym Oldřich in 1604, he became the heir of the vast domain as well as the title “the ruler of the House of Hradec”. In Czech history he became known as the royal vice-regent, who was thrown out of the window of Prague Castle in the second defenestration in 1618. Over the ninety years of the rule of the Slavata family, the chateau did not undergo any essential construction adaptations. However, in the period of 1678 – 1696 the second arcade wing by the Roundel was built and in front of it the garden fountain was set. In 1693, Heřman Jakub Černín of Chudenice acquired the chateau byHeřman Jakub Černín of Chudenice marrying Marie Josefa of Slavata, who got Jindřichův Hradec as her share of the family heritage. The execution of important state functions and the relationship to the ruling House of Habsburg under the first Černíns brought to Jindřichův Hradec prominent visitors from among the members of the imperial court and other representatives of the European political scene. It was under the Černíns that the last major architectural remodelling of the chateau, which concerned the chapel, was carried out. In the years 1709 – 1735, the Gothic chapel of the castle was remodelled in the Baroque style after a design by F.M. Kaňka. In 1773, the chateau as well as the town were struck by a vast fire that destroyed a major part of the Renaissance interiors along with artistic collections. Temporarily roofed and abandoned by the lords, the chateau went on deteriorating. It was used as the economic centre of the domain, and the great arcades were turned into stables, the Roundel serving as a wood and game storage room and as stables. It was the wave of Romanticism that brought new interest in rescuing the chateau. In 1851, the family archives were brought from the Černín Palace into the remodelled premises of the chateau, which became the basis of the present State Regional Archives, still housed in the second chateau courtyard. In the early 20th century, the Viennese architect Humbert Walcher of Moltheim realised partial repairs and adaptations but some part of the chateau remained without repair. The Černíns owned the chateau until 1945, when it was confiscated, pursuant to Presidential Decree No.12/1945. The bad condition of the chateau complex kept on deteriorating and several buildings threatened to collapse. A general reconstruction was started in 1976 and lasted, with intervals, seventeen years. The chateau complex was rescued to the expense of 120 million crowns and reopened to the public in 1993. 

Zleby Castle
























Zleby is a pretty village in the district of Kutna Hora in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It is called Zamek Žleby in Czech. The most famous attraction of this place is the Zleby Castle which is a very romantic Baroque style castle which can guarantee to satisfy all your imaginations of how an old castle should be with its architecture and surroundings. The Zleby Castle was first recorded in the late 1200s and is believed to have been built by Henry of Lichtenburg. It is also thought that the castle was initially built on an old foundation that was laid in the 13th century. Another recognized owner of the castle was Zleb of Agnes from whom it was bought by Emperor Charles IV and thus it became a royal asset. Other well known owners of the castle are Markvart of Wartenberg, Stephen of Opocno, Jaroslav of Opocno, Henry Lacembok Chlum and many others.

http://www.mydestination.com/prague/travel-tips-to-czech-republic/131555/zleby-castle