From the gothic to rococo grace

Discover two magical monuments: Rychmburk Castle and Chrast Château. Rychmburk Castle will enchant you with its gothic history and renaissance and baroque renovations, while Chrast Château will captivate you with his elegant baroque architecture. Originally a summer seat for bishops, it now enchants visitors with its halls and the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk.

Rychmburk Castle

Rychmburk Castle, built in the Gothic style around 1300 and subsequently renovated in the renaissance and baroque styles, towers above the valley of the Krounka River, near Skuteč. Throughout its history, it belonged to significant aristocratic houses such as the Lords of Vartenberk, Wallenstein and Kinsky. After 1945, it was used as a retirement home, but it was once again opened to the public in 2021, 70 years later. Visitors are attracted by the 30-metre tower, the administrator’s household with its period furnishings, the exhibitions on torture and beer brewing, as well as a number of short-term exhibitions with attractive themes. The castle gardens are also a venue for romantic walks.

The Chrast Château

The Chrast Château was originally a fortress that was converted into a Renaissance château at the beginning of the 17^th century. Its current baroque appearance was established in the mid-18^th century and it bears elements of the famous architect, Santini. It served as a summer residence for the bishops of Hradec Králové for three centuries. Nowadays, it houses the Municipal Authority and the Municipal Museum with exhibitions on regional history. Visitors can also view the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk and the representative halls. The château includes a French garden with a unique rose collection connected to an avenue that leads all the way to Podlažice. The château is a popular place for weddings and cultural events.

Tips in the environs

• The Skuteč Regional Museum: the museum offers permanent exhibitions that present two traditional crafts, namely the production of footwear and stone cutting. You will also be able to see the largest hand sewn Oxford shoe in Bohemia. The outdoor exhibition will take you through the quarry and its typical workplaces.
• Exotic animals at the Bítovany Ranch: this family zoological garden offers up to 20 examples of exotic fauna, such as llamas, kangaroos, mongooses, raccoons, meerkats, porcupines or rare primates such as vervet monkeys, gibbons and lemurs. There are also pumas, desert lynxes, bush cats and lynxes.

Accommodation tips

• Sodomkův statek Czap, Zbožnov
• The U Palečků Guesthouse, Skuteč

Restaurant tips

• The Castle Pantry, Přehradí
• The Château Restaurant, Chrast

Košumberk Castle and the Nové Hrady Château constitute an excellent trip for history lovers. The ruins of the gothic Košumberk Castle will transport you to the Middle Ages, while the rococo Nové Hrady Château is an elegant château with a French garden and an English landscape park.

Košumberk Castle

Košumberk Castle, established in the second half of the 13^th century, is a monument that conceals a rich history. All that remains of it today are the ruins of the gothic castle and the renaissance annex. The first written mention of the castle dates from 1318. At the end of the 14^th century, it was renovated in the late gothic style and it subsequently underwent renaissance renovations after a fire in 1573. The castle became a place of education in the 16^th century when an Unitas Fratrum school was established there for young protestant aristocrats. In 1684, it passed into the ownership of the Jesuit College, but it had fallen into obscurity by the end of the eighteenth century and started to fall into ruin. The last aristocratic family that it belonged to was the House of Thurn-Taxis. They only used the burgrave’s house, which now houses the castle museum.

The Nové hrady Château

Would you like to visit the “Little Schönbrunn” or the “Czech Versailles”? These epithets belong to the rococo château that was built in the style of French summer residences. The monumental entry portal opens the way to a château facility with a French garden or an English landscape park with a sandstone Way of the Cross (1767) leading to the remnants of the original Gothic castle. The former baroque granary now houses a motorcycle museum. Ladies are sure to enjoy the Gallery of English Hats located in the orangery. There is a pleasant walk to a red and fallow deer farm and you can also wind your way through the château labyrinth.

Tips in the environs

• The Pilgrimage Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians in Luže: the early baroque building on the basalt hill known as “Chlumek” conceals the architecturally remarkable Marian Chapel in the presbytery, which is vaulted with a dome with a so-called lantern.
• The Toulovcovy Stables: sandstone rock formations, the so-called Budislav Rocks, constitute a series of rocky valleys cut in some places up to a depth of 60 m, some of which are divided into independent formations that have been given names such as the Lord’s Table, Columbus’ Egg or the Donkey’s Corridor.

Accommodation tips

• The Harmonie Guesthouse, Luže
• The Polanka Chalet, Nové Hrady

Restaurant tips

• The Na Kovárně Restaurant, Luže
• The Nové Hrady Château Restaurant