Ratiborice Château

Ratibořice Château offers the Baroque architecture and Bohemian landscape, ranking among the best-known and most-frequented places in East Bohemia. They have become well known to the general public thanks to Babička (The Grandmother), the most famous work of the writer Božena Němcová.

In the years 1702 to 1708 the then owner of the estate Lorenzo Piccolomini had a Baroque summer palace built at Ratibořice which he intended to use for summer sojourns and in hunting period. The small château was built in the style of Italian country villas and similarly as the château at Hostivice and Kácov, it ranked among the unique samples of this type of lordly seat in this country.

After its reconstruction in the years 1825 to 1826 the château acquired the form of an elegant seat in the late Central European Classical and Empire style. The environs in the spacious natural landscape park were adjusted simultaneously with the reconstruction work on the château building.

Today tours Ratibořice Château are available in which includes the 'Period of the Duchess of Sagan' route and the interiors on the ground from the time of the last private owners at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The interiors on the ground floor are furnished with 19th century furniture and portraits of relatives and members of the princely family of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Danish royal family, as well as a collection of Danish porcelain, English stoneware and prints.

Address
Česká Skalice, Czech Republic

Established
1702-1708