Château de Lavardens, Lavardens, France

Château de Lavardens dominates the skyline of surrounding lands. Originally built in the 12th century, it was later a residence of Counts of Armagnac. The present massive structure dates from 1620 onwards and it was built on the ruins of medieval castle (destroyed by King's soldiers in 1496).

User Reviews

Philip Highley (2 years ago)
Good restaurant. Didn't go into the chateau itself.

Paul Tulip (2 years ago)
This is a beautiful chateau They charge a fairly high price to enter and inside ??? Its a bloody shop!!!!!! Every room is set as a gallery for ' Arty' products !!! To add insult to injury the last room you are directed to is a??? Yes you guessed! A tourist shop selling rubbish unrelated to the Chateau Avoid entering just enjoy the outside

Paul Tulip (2 years ago)
This is a beautiful ancient château Outside it looks brilliant both from a distance and close up Initially thought that the 14+€ entry fee was worth while till we got inside It was a bloody shop!! All rooms had exhibits of art for sale ( not cheap) and had nothing to do with the history or story of this lovely Château At the end -- Guess what? A tourist shop selling stuff totally unrelated to the Chateau itself If I wanted to go shopping I would have gone to a big city outlet So disappointed! !!

TUDOR TEODORESCU (3 years ago)
Nice and quiet little village.

TyA Doan (3 years ago)
The emplacement is amazing. The castle is being taken care of but pretty nice. The expo are a bit ruin out.

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The first historical record of Lednice locality dates from 1222. At that time there stood a Gothic fort with courtyard, which was lent by Czech King Václav I to Austrian nobleman Sigfried Sirotek in 1249.

At the end of the 13th century the Liechtensteins, originally from Styria, became holders of all of Lednice and of nearby Mikulov. They gradually acquired land on both sides of the Moravian-Austrian border. Members of the family most often found fame in military service, during the Renaissance they expanded their estates through economic activity. From the middle of the 15th century members of the family occupied the highest offices in the land. However, the family’s position in Moravia really changed under the brothers Karel, Maximilian, and Gundakar of Liechtenstein. Through marriage Karel and Maximilian acquired the great wealth of the old Moravian dynasty of the Černohorskýs of Boskovice. At that time the brothers, like their father and grandfather, were Lutheran, but they soon converted to Catholicism, thus preparing the ground for their rise in politics. Particularly Karel, who served at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, became hetman of Moravia in 1608, and was later raised to princely status by King Matyas II and awarded the Duchy of Opava.

During the revolt of the Czech nobility he stood on the side of the Habsburgs, and took part in the Battle of White Mountain. After the uprising was defeated in 1620 he systematically acquired property confiscated from some of the rebels, and the Liechtensteins became the wealthiest family in Moravia, rising in status above the Žerotíns. Their enormous land holdings brought them great profits, and eventually allowed them to carry out their grandious building projects here in Lednice.

In the 16th century it was probably Hartmann II of Liechtenstein who had the old medieval water castle torn down and replaced with a Renaissance chateau. At the end of the 17th century the chateau was torn down and a Baroque palace was built, with an extensive formal garden, and a massive riding hall designed by Johann Bernard Fischer von Erlach that still stands in almost unaltered form.

In the mid-18th century the chateau was again renovated, and in 1815 its front tracts that had been part of the Baroque chateau were removed.

The chateau as it looks today dates from 1846-1858, when Prince Alois II decided that Vienna was not suitable for entertaining in the summer, and had Lednice rebuilt into a summer palace in the spirit of English Gothic. The hall on the ground floor would serve to entertain the European aristocracy at sumptuous banquets, and was furnished with carved wood ceilings, wooden panelling, and select furniture, surpassing anything of its kind in Europe.

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