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Castles nad Chateaus

Hrádek (Helfenburk)

The romantic ruins of Hrádek (Helfenburk) lie in the picturesque Ptačí Důl valley. The property is mentioned as early as in the 13th century. For a long time it belonged to the Prague archbishops.

The last archbishop was Jan Očko from Vlašim. In the year 1592 the castle was acquired by the noble family of the Sezimas from Ústí. They did not live in the castle but maintained there a small garrison. The tower is accessible and it is an excellent observation point for the near and remote environs.

Connection: 5 km walking over Ostré, or by car on the road in direction Tetčiněves


Ploskovice

Photogallery, video and situation map:

- photogallery

- video (file in format: *.wmv, length: 6 minutes, size: 15.0 Mb, resolution: 320x240)

- situační mapa

Description:

Castle Ploskovice Castle was built as summer residence for the Archduchess Anna Marie Frances of Tuscany at the beginning of the eighteenth century, with arcades and grottos in the castle basement. The builder was with all likelihood the superb Baroque architect Kilián Ignác Diezenhofer. Halfway through the nineteenth century Ploskovice became the private residence of the retired Emperor Ferdinand V, the last crowned King of Bohemia. At this time a second floor was added, and the interiors were adapted to contemporary needs and taste. The internal decoration was taken up by one of the most prominent artists of Czech Romanticism, Josef Navrátil. Most of the mural paintings are by him. The sculptor Václav Levý, already much celebrated at this time, worked alongside him. After the death of Ferdinand V, Emperor Franz Josef I took over the castle. At presen the castle interiors are furnished with contens of second - Rococo origin, coming in part from Prague Castle and in part from other north bohemian castles. Ploskovice Castle is surrounded by a large park, originally conceived in the style of the gardens at Versailles. After 1918 the summer residence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was set up here, and the guests have included Edvard Beneš, Jan Masaryk, Indria Ghandi, and other prominent people from political and cultural life. Anew exhibition is currently under preparation on the second floor, called "The Habsburgs and Bohemia".


Libochovice

Photogallery, video and situation map:

- photogallery

- video

- situation map

Description:

Castle Libochovice On this place stood formerly a Gothic fortress of the Lords Zajíc from Hazmburk, which was burnt out during the Hussite Wars. It was rebuilt as late as around 1560 as a Renaissance chateau by Jan Lobkovic. However, the chapel is constructed in the late Gothic style. The town and the chateau were damaged by fire during the ownership of the Šternberk family. The present appearance was designed by the architect Antonio della Porta in 1683 – 1690.

The greatest tourist attraction in Litoměřicko, it would seem, is Libochovice Častle, which is oné of the most noteworthy Baroque monuments in the Czech Republic. We can find it directly on the square of Libochovice itself, and it was within its walls in 1787 that the genius scientist and physician, the pioneer of Slavonic solidarity, poet, and pedagogue of world renown Jan Evangelista Purkyně was born. You can remind yourselves of his life and work at the permanent exhibition on


Házmburk

Házmburk One of the boldest landmarks orCeské středohoří is Hazmburk Castle, lying not far from the town of Libochovice. Archaeological finds here háve proven the existence ofa fortification here from the Early Iron Age and the middle period of settlement. The history of the castle, which was originally called Klepy, in accordance with the hill on which it stood, reaches back to the thir-teenth century. Around 1250 the Lichtemburks built it on the territory of their domain. They owned it until the beginning of the fourteenth century, ' when it was acquired by the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg. In 1335, however, oné of the most prominent nobles in the kingdom, Zbyněk Zajíc of Valdek, bought it from King John. Alongside the castle and the village of Klepy, he also bought the stronghold and village of Libochovice and several other villages. Zbyněk Zajíc renamed Klepy Castle in accordance with his German name to Hasenburg ("Hare Castle", láteř Czechified into Hazmburk). Shortly after 1335 Zbyněk proceeded to make extensive struc-tural changes. At this time a second, black tower was built, as were other buildings together with access from the north and a lower gate. Hazmburk Castle thus gained, via this conversion, its emphatic appearance with the two towers - the upper, so-called white tower (built from sandstone), and the lower black tower (basalt). The Zajícs of Hazmburk were among the mightiest lineš in the kingdom, especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and their seat at Hazmburk Castle was an important support for the king and Church, which became especially evi-dent duríng the Hussite Wars. The Hussites attempted to také the castle three times, in 1424, when after their lack of success they satisfied them-selves with burning Libochovice, then in 1429 and 1431, but again without success. From the end of the fifteenth century the importance of the castle gradually tailed off because the Zajícs had moved to their seat to Budyně nad Ohří, where they had built a luxurious Renaissance castle. The Zajícs went onto possess Hazmburk Castle until 1558, when they sold it to the Lobkovices as abandoned. From then on it was left to decay and today only a ruin rem/nds us of its former glory.


Zubrnice - Open-air museum and railway museum

Zubrnice open-air museum The museum of folk architecture in Zubrnice is the news open-air museum in Bohemia. It exhibits the most valuable building of the old historical village at the foothills of the Czech Central Highland that were moved to the museum from a near distance. Visitors can see the expositions inside as well as outside the farmstead complex, a unique fruit drying plant, a village school, storehouse, church and a Baroque fountain. Zubrnice has a genuine railway station with two rails, a station building, a short platform, loading platform and a latrine from the times of the Austrian monarchy. The station is a small railway museum and documents the history of the railway line Velké Březno-Veneřice-Úštěk.

Connection: bus, direction Ústí nad Labem (13 km)


Terezín - Fortress on the river Ohře

Terezín monument "Terezin, which is established for the greater security of our Bohemian Kingdom", thus spoke the Emperor of the Habsburg monarchy Josef II in his decree of 9 December 1782, by which he granted an ill-arranged building site the status of Free Royal Town. Work had been started on the Terezin fortress, named after Empress Marie Theresa, in spring 1780, chiefly as a defence against Prussian expansionism. In the war for the Bavarian crown, the directions the invasions of the Prussian forces took were verified, and hence it was decided to build a fortress here. It must be pointed out that at the time Austria was going to build this costly structure, the defence was based on fortress systems that were already quite out dated. However, the town of Terezin did not acquire a fuller appearance in respect of its buildings until the 1830s, when the town hall was built on the northern side of the square. Prussian expansionism, against which Terezin had been built, was pushed into the background at the end of the eighteenth century by the French Revolution and the enemies, Austria and Prussia, became allies. Not did the fortress have the opportunity of experiencing baptism by fire during the Napoleonic Wars. After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte peace was established in Europe by the Viennese Congress, but its fragility again came to light in June 1866 by the invasion of the Prussian forces directly into Bohemia itself. Yet the fortress played no role at all in the defence against the Prussian attack. The Terezin garrison did not even have to intervene because, in the face of all expectations, the Prussian army simply did not come this way. Because of the improvements in weaponry and communications, the fortresses became mere islets in a flood of marching armies, which meant they had lost their strategic significance, leading to Terezin's status of fortress being rescinded in 1888. It would have been pleasant to bring the history of Terezin Fortress to a close at this point by saying that the cruelties of war had passed it by. However, the worst in its history was yet to come, which was actually predetermined by its structural specifications. Casemates, cells, passages, impenetrable walls, ... Even under Austrian rule the Small Fortress (we write about the structural plan of the fortress elsewhere) became one of the hardest prisons for the Empire's political opponents. For example, the three Sarajevo assassins of the heir to the throne, Ferdinand d'Este, ended their days here; among the last opponents of the monarchy to be imprisoned in the Small Fortress were those who took part in the Rumburk rebellions in 1918. During the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis, the Small Fortress became the largest place of torture in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. On 10 June 1940 the Prague Gestapo took over the Small Fortress at Terezin to make a prison out of it. A year later the Nazis also made use of the Main Fortress for their intentions. On 24 November 1941 a labour group of Jewish prisoners came from Prague to Terezin to start work on building the Jewish ghetto here. The original inhabitants had to move out by mid-1942. Hence the entire town became a huge concentration camp that was, in fact, just a stop on the way. The terminal station need not be introduced. The subsequent balance is hard to imagine. During the Nazi occupation 32,000 people passed through the Small Fortress, of whom around 2,600 were tortured to death. Getting on for 160,000 people passed through the ghetto in the space of five years, of whom 35,000 died of hunger, cold, epidemics, torture, or were executed. Of those that were deported to other concentration and annihilation camps, only a tiny number returned.