National Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic

Lemberk Castle

Lemberk Castle is located in the village of Lvová, part of Jablonné v Podještědí, west of Liberec. It was constructed in the 1240s by Havel of Markvartice. In the second half of the 16th century it was rebuilt into a Renaissance chateau and it acquired its present appearance after the mid-17th century under the lords of Breda. The last owners were the Clam-Gallas family, who owned the castle until 1945. Today only t ...
Founded: 13th century | Location: Jablonné v Podještědí, Czech Republic

Hradisko Monastery

Hradisko Monastery was originally a Benedictine monastery, from the mid-12th century a premonstratensian monastery in Olomouc. It was established in 1078 and it serves as an military hospital since 1802. The four-winged building with a rectangular platform, with corner towers and a moat, is divided by an inner lateral wing into two parts - the convent and the prelature. While the northern part of the monastery was built ...
Founded: 1078 | Location: Olomouc, Czech Republic

Kunstát Castle

Kunštát Palace is located in the site of medieval Kunštát castle mentioned in 1380. In 1448 it became the property of King George of Poděbrady. The medieval castle was rebuilt to the current palace in 16th and 17th century. Today it is a venue for events.
Founded: 16th century | Location: Kunštát, Czech Republic

Krásný Dvur Palace

Krásný Dvůr is a Baroque palace with English-style landscape park and a garden inspired by that of Versailles. The first records of Krasný Dvůr date back to the 14th century, since then numerous aristocratic families held possession of it until Count Hermann Czernin von und zu Chudenitz bought it in the middle of the 17th century. Count Franz Josef Czernin von und zu Chudenitz decided to start an extensive reconstruc ...
Founded: 1720-1724 | Location: Krásný Dvůr, Czech Republic

Duchcov Palace

Duchcov palace houses a museum with a collection of historic furniture. Also on display is the painting and portrait gallery of the Waldsteins, including portraits of the most famous member of this family, Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland, by Anthony van Dyck. One room is dedicated to Giacomo Casanova, who was employed here as a librarian from 1785 to 1798, and his memoirs were written here in the years before ...
Founded: 1675-1685 | Location: Duchcov, Czech Republic

Saints Peter and Paul Rotunda

Pre-Romanesque Rotunda of Saints Peter and Paul dates from the late 10th century and is the oldest preserved sacral structure in Czech Republic. The first mention of the rotunda dates from 976. It collapsed in the 15th century, but was restored later. Inside the rotunda there is an exhibition of archaeological finds.
Founded: 10th century | Location: Starý Plzenec, Czech Republic

Chotesov Abbey

Chotěšov Abbey is a former Premonstratensian nunnery founded between 1202 and 1210 by the Blessed Hroznata and settled by nuns from Doksany Abbey. The new foundation soon acquired wealth and influence, to the envy of the surrounding lordships and territories. In 1421, during the Hussite Wars the nunnery was occupied and destroyed by a Hussite army under Jan Žižka. During the Thirty Years' War, in 1618, the ...
Founded: 1202 | Location: Chotěšov, Czech Republic

Kobylisy

Kobylisy is a former military shooting range located in Kobylisy, a northern suburb of Prague. It was established in 1889–1891, on a site that was at the time far outside the city, as a training facility for the Austro-Hungarian army. During the Nazi occupation it was used for mass executions as part of retaliatory measures against the Czech people after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942. About 550 Cze ...
Founded: 1889 | Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Monte d'Accoddi

Monte d"Accoddi is a Neolithic archaeological site in northern Sardinia, located in the territory of Sassari. The site consists of a massive raised stone platform thought to have been an altar. It was constructed by the Ozieri culture or earlier, with the oldest parts dated to around 4,000–3,650 BC.

The site was discovered in 1954 in a field owned by the Segni family. No chambers or entrances to the mound have been found, leading to the presumption it was an altar, a temple or a step pyramid. It may have also served an observational function, as its square plan is coordinated with the cardinal points of the compass.

The initial Ozieri structure was abandoned or destroyed around 3000 BC, with traces of fire found in the archeological evidence. Around 2800 BC the remains of the original structure were completely covered with a layered mixture of earth and stone, and large blocks of limestone were then applied to establish a second platform, truncated by a step pyramid (36 m × 29 m, about 10 m in height), accessible by means of a second ramp, 42 m long, built over the older one. This second temple resembles contemporary Mesopotamian ziggurats, and is attributed to the Abealzu-Filigosa culture.

Archeological excavations from the chalcolithic Abealzu-Filigosa layers indicate the Monte d"Accoddi was used for animal sacrifice, with the remains of sheep, cattle, and swine recovered in near equal proportions. It is among the earliest known sacrificial sites in Western Europe.

The site appears to have been abandoned again around 1800 BC, at the onset of the Nuragic age.

The monument was partially reconstructed during the 1980s. It is open to the public and accessible by the old route of SS131 highway, near the hamlet of Ottava. It is 14,9 km from Sassari and 45 km from Alghero. There is no public transportation to the site. The opening times vary throughout the year.