Konopiste Castle

Konopiste Castle (Zámek Konopiště) was founded at the end of 13th century probably by the bishop Tobias from Benesov. Originally the medieval castle in French Gothic style was later rebuilt into a Baroque chateau by the Vrtbas from Vrtba. Its current look is a result of the last renovation made by Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este, the successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne, who bought the castle from the Lobkowitzs in 1887.

Before his assassination in 1914 that started WW I, Ferdinand d'Este lived in Konopiste and gathered here a large collection of hunting trophies, weapons, antique furniture, paintings, tapestry and other art objects. This collection is now the main attraction of the castle, along with a large castle garden and a pair of bears living in a castle moat.

More Photos

The photo above was taken in June 2009 and shows the Konopiste Castle across a large pond that is a part of the castle garden. A wider view across the pond shows the next picture:

How to get there

Konopiste is located about 45-minut drive (50 Km) from Prague -- see directions and a map. You can also go by train from Prague Main Railway Station to Benešov u Prahy (about one hour) and then follow the red hiking trail (less than 3 Km through a beautiful castle park).

Related links

• Konopiste Castle's official website
• Konopiste Castle (Zámek Konopiště) on Prague.net

Lichnice Castle (Lichtenburg)

Lichnice is an early Gothic castle built in 1250 by Smil from Zitava, who later changed his name to "from Svetlik" or "from Lichtenburg" in German. The castle was enlarged in the 15th century, rebuilt in the 16th century, demolished after the Thirty Years' War and deserted. Now only the ruins remain, but they are well preserved and quite spectacular.

The ruins of the Lichnice castle are located on the rocky hill above the Lovetinska gorge and the village of Podhradi in Zelezne Hory (Iron Mountains) -- a mid-size natural reserve situated North of the town of Chrudim in Pardubicky region. Besides the old ruins you can enjoy wonderful views from the top of the hill as well as beautiful nature all around.

More photos

Main gate of the Lichnice castle as viewed from inner courtyard:

View over the ruins of Lichnice towards Čáslav:

View of the ruins from outside:

The title photo shows the main entrance to the castle courtyard. All photos were taken in August 2006 by me (Marek Prokop) and are licensed under - Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.

How to get there

Lichnice is not very accessible by public transport. The closest towns with regular bus or train service are Čáslav (20 Km) and Heřmanův Městec (13 Km). There is a small local railway from Čáslav to Třemošnice (3 Km).

Lichnice, Lichtenburg, Zelezne Hory, Bohemia, Czech Republic, castle, Gothic, architecture

Zbraslav Chateau

Zbraslav is located at the confluence of the rivers Vltava and Berounka about 12 Km South of the Prague city centre. In 1292 Czech king Wenceslas II founded a Cistercian monastery here and named it Aula Regia (Kings' hall), because he wished it to become a new burial place of Bohemian kings.

Members of the Premislid royal family was buried here during 14th century, the last one was king Wenceslas IV in 1419. Then, in 1420, the Zbraslav monastery and the church of Our Lady with its royal tombs were destroyed by the Hussites.

A new era of the Zbraslav cloister started in the early 18th century, when abbot Wolfgang Lochner called the famous architect Giovanni Santini Aichel to design a new complex of buildings in Baroque style. This work was completed by Frantisek Maxmilian Kanka in 1732.

In 1785 the monastery was abolished and Zbraslav became the property of Walloon noble Joseph de Souvaige, who established a sugar refinery here. Prince Fridrich Öttingen-Wallerstein acquired Zbraslav in the beginning of the 19th century and made it his residence. Since then we speak about the Zbraslav chateau or castle rather than monastery.

The last owners of the Zbraslav chateau have been the Bartons of Dobenin family, who still live here. A part of the chateau is used by the Czech National Gallery since 1939 and houses a permanent exhibition of Asian art.

The photos

The photo above shows the detail of the Zbraslav Chateau's northern front. The photo below was taken from the same place and includes more of the castle garden. I took both pictures in July 2006.

How to get there

Zbraslav is a quarter of Prague now, located on its southern edge along the Vltava Rivere. You can get there from Smíchovské nádrazí (Metro yellow line B) by buses No. 129, 241, 243, 255, 314, 318 or 390 to Zbraslavské námesti, or from Jizní Mesto or Radotín by bus No. 165.

Zbraslav, Bohemia, Czech Republic, chateau, monastery, Baroque, architecture, Santini, Kanka