The Humprecht Château

Humprecht Château is located in the Bohemian Paradise on the very border of the Hradec Králové and Central Bohemia regions in the village of Sobotka near Jičín. The château was designed by Italian architect Carlo Lurago in 1666-1668 as a summer and hunting residence for Count Humprecht Jan Czernin of Chudenice. The building was built in the early Baroque style with elements of late Renaissance and Mannerism. In 1678 the château was struck by lightning several times and burnt down. Within two years it was rebuilt, raised by one floor and has thereby existed almost in the same form since 1680 until today. Humprecht is unmistakably different from other aristocratic residences in its construction concept. The elliptical shape of its ground plan, the interesting lighting of the upper hall with a lantern and the crescent moon on the roof top make it a unique and unmistakeable monument. From April 2021 to 2024 the Baroque hunting lodge underwent a major renovation, the largest in its history. The 27-room château can be explored through 5 guided tours. At the château you can also visit the Almárium Museum, which depicts Sobotka as it was described by Karel Čapek in his book Pictures from Home, as a town of poets, teachers and shoemakers. Here, you can see the historical tools used by shoemakers, find out what a shop like this looked like in the First Republic or experience what it was like to sit in a school desk from the first half of the 20th century.