Podebrady Castle, Poděbrady, Czech Republic

A wooden fortress originally stood at the site of the present Poděbrady Castle. King Ottokar II of Bohemia replaced it by a stone castle, which became the seat of the Lordship of Poděbrady. King John of Bohemia pledged the Lordship and the Castle to Hynek of Lichtenburg in 1345. When in 1350, Hynek's daughter Eliška married Boček I of Poděbrady (d. 1373), the castle came into the possession of the Kunštát family. After Emperor Charles IV gave Poděbrady to Boček as a hereditary possession, Boček called himself Boček of Poděbrady, thereby founding the Poděbrady line of the Kunštát family.

According to legend, King George of Poděbrady, Boček's grandson, was born in the castle. After George's death in 1471, the Castle and Lordship of Poděbrady were inherited by his son, Henry the Younger of Poděbrady, whose heirs had to transfer ownership of both the castle and the lordship to King Vladislaus II in 1495. Both were pledged several times before the loan was repaid by King Ferdinand I. They remained in the possession of the Bohemian Crown until 1839.

The castle was rebuilt several times. Between 1548 and 1580, it was reconstructed to a Renaissance style, after a design by Giovanni and Ulrico Aostalli and Hans Vienna. After the Thirty Years' War, the castle lost most of its importance. In 1723 and 1724, it was reconstructed in a Baroque style under the direction of the builder Franz Maximilian Kanka. Further modifications were made after 1750. Maria Theresa, in her capacity as Queen of Bohemia, stayed at the castle on several occasions. Under her son Joseph II, the castle was the residence of retired Imperial Army officers.

In 1839, the Crown sold the Castle and the Lordship to the Viennese banker Georg Simon Sina (1783–1856). Through marriage, the castle came into the possession of the Counts of Ypsilanti in 1884.

References:

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Wieskirche

The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.

The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.

The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.

Gabriel Langdon (3 years ago)
Good food, good place and Marek rules!!!

Stefan Maracic (3 years ago)
Nice place for spending day outside Prague

Mirage Cz (5 years ago)
Nice building with one of mineral stream.

John David Hayes (6 years ago)
All expected things for a castle; illustrious past; useful present..potential for the future

Dr. Gregory Hage (6 years ago)
Great historical castle in the spa town of poděbrady. You can find inside a muzeum . 2 mineral water sources. Charles university (karlova universita) has a language teaching center in the castle . The town's cinema (kino) is also inside. I recommend to visit it at night.

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Wieskirche