Palaces, manors and town halls in Czech Republic
Municipal House
Municipal House (Obecní dům) is a civic building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, in Prague. The Royal Court palace used to be located on the site of the Municipal House. From 1383 until 1485 the King of Bohemia lived in the property. After 1485, it was abandoned. It was demolished in the early 20th century. Construction of the current building started in 1905 and it opened in 1912. The bu ...
Founded: 1905-1912 |
Location:
Prague, Czech Republic
Wallenstein Palace
Wallenstein palace is the first large secular palace of the Baroque era. The original Palace was built in years 1623-1630 by Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Mecklenburg (1583-1634), who made his name and fortune as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial forces in the Thirty Years War. Emperor Ferdinand II feared Albrecht of Wallenstein’s calculating mind and had him assassinated in 1634 in the town of Eger (now Ch ...
Founded: 1623-1630 |
Location:
Prague, Czech Republic
Liberec Town Hall
Liberec Town Hall is a Neo-Renaissance building, which was built from 1888 till 1893 by design of the Viennese architect, Franz Neumann, replacing earlier structures dating to 1602. The building has a richly decorated façade, integrated artwork, and very rare stained glass windows. Above the entrance portal is a sculptural relief by Viennese sculptor Theodor Friedl, showing the establishment of the old and new to ...
Founded: 1888-1893 |
Location:
Liberec, Czech Republic
Konopiste Palace
Konopiště is a palace, which become famous as the last residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir of the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination in Sarajevo triggered World War I. The bullet that killed him, fired by Gavrilo Princip, is now an exhibit at the castle"s museum. The castle was apparently established in the 1280s by Prague Bishop Tobiaš as a Gothic fortification with a ...
Founded: 1280s |
Location:
Benešov, Czech Republic
Hrádek u Nechanic
Hrádek u Nechanic is a 19th-century Gothic style Romantic château near the town of Hrádek. It was built between 1839 and 1857 as a representative and summer seat by Count František Arnošt of Harach, one of the most important representatives of the Jilemnice dynasty. The young Austrian architect Karl Fischer led building operations and suggested decoration of the chateau's interior. The chateau was designed by the Eng ...
Founded: 1839-1857 |
Location:
Hrádek, Czech Republic
Veltrusy Mansion
Veltrusy Mansion is a baroque château situated near the banks of the Vltava River, about 25 km north of Prague. The mansion is open to the public for visits. The mansion was initially built in 1716 by architect František Maxmilián Kaňka for Count Václav Antonín Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín. The original mansion was extended in 1764 by architect Giovanni Battista Alliprandi on the orders of Count Rudolf ...
Founded: 1716 |
Location:
Veltrusy, Czech Republic
Kacina Palace
Kačina is a significant empire style palace built in place of the defunct medieval village Kačín. It was built as a prestige mansion of the supreme burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia and president of governorate Jan Rudolf Chotek (1748–1824) from 1806 to 1824. The architectural scheme was drawn up by Saxon royal architect Christian Franz Schuricht (1753–1832) from Dresden. Johann Philipp J&oum ...
Founded: 1806-1824 |
Location:
Kutná Hora, 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
Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Photo from Flickr, copyright alancowper
Historic Site of the week
Easter Aquhorthies Stone Circle
Easter Aquhorthies stone circle, located near Inverurie, is one of the best-preserved examples of a recumbent stone circle, and one of the few that still have their full complement of stones. It consists of a ring of nine stones, eight of which are grey granite and one red jasper. Two more grey granite stones flank a recumbent of red granite flecked with crystals and lines of quartz. The circle is particularly notable for its builders' use of polychromy in the stones, with the reddish ones situated on the SSW side and the grey ones opposite.
The placename Aquhorthies derives from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning 'field of prayer', and may indicate a 'long continuity of sanctity' between the Stone or Bronze Age circle builders and their much later Gaelic successors millennia later. The circle's surroundings were landscaped in the late 19th century, and it sits within a small fenced and walled enclosure. A stone dyke, known as a roundel, was built around the circle some time between 1847 and 1866–7.