Castle or Chateau?

By
Since we've lived in the Czech Republic, we have gotten used to the idea of people visiting a nearby castle on their day off.  We haven't had any opportunities like that because we lack the car to go on a Sunday drive. Therefore, one of my goals during our May vacation was to see a Czech castle on our drive to Austria.

After doing my research online, I found such a castle in Hluboka nad Vltavou. The fairytale castle was situation on a bluff above the Vltava River.

When we arrived in the town below the castle, we noticed that signs, directing tourists up the bluff, were labeled "zamek." After finding that word on Google translate, we learned it means chateau in Czech. So, were we visiting a castle or a chateau?


From all outward appearances, the building looked like a castle - turrets, a drawbridge, parapets, and battlements. It was rather magnificient as we walked toward it, fitting my idea of a fairytale castle.

However, it didn't have a moat around it. Instead it was surrounded by sculptured gardens which added to its beauty. A very impressive sight.


We learned that the castle was very old, built originally in the 13th century. I'm sure the original castle must have had a moat around it. It was rebuilt on the same site several times, the last being in the 19th century by Johann Adolf II von Schwarzenberg who wanted to mimic England's Windsor castle.


Schwarzenberg rebuilt this chateau to use for his hunting lodge in the southern Bohemian countryside. The inner courtyard was lined with the mounted antlers of his successful hunting trips.

I was amazed to see the intricacy of the detailed scrolling around the balconies in the inner courtyard. The workers during that century certainly knew how to add beauty to a building.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside of the chateau. We toured one floor of the huge dwelling. The rooms were filled with period furniture, dishes, etc. The interior of the house struck me as being very dark with woodwork covering the walls as well as the floors, and even, in some cases, ceilings. I would not have wanted to live in the dark rooms. It left me feeling depressed.

With the chandeliers, original art work, and statues, it all was very extravagant by our standards. I asked myself several times how much money did it all cost - and for a hunting lodge that was used only a couple months of the year.

To see some pictures of the inside of the chateau see this link Zamek Hluboka. Click on "Tours" for a few more pictures.

I definitely would call this structure a chateau that was built to look like a castle. Johann Schwarzenberg must have been a man who liked to flaunt all his money to impress his hunting friends, but it was worth seeing all the same. It's not something you see every day - even if you live in Prague.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Golden Domes of Riga

By
Image
Orthodox Cathedral - Riga  The golden domes of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral stand out above the trees near Old Town Riga. We walk past this large building in the park not far from our apartment.  The domes shine out to the citizens on sunny days. Surrounded by the trees in the park, the walls of the cathedral are not easy to see in summer, but the size is undeniable. Of course, the golden domes tell everyone that this is a Russian Orthodox Church. After living in St. Petersburg, that is easy for us to define with the Russian style architecture. This cathedral was built between 1876 and 1883 when Latvia was a part of the Russian Empire under the reign of Tsar Alexander II.  Main Door This is the largest Orthodox Church in the entire Baltic area. A massive tower rises toward the sky when a visitor approaches the front door.  Entryway painting I visited several orthodox churches during my years in Europe. The thing that they have in common is that the interiors are covered with images
Read more

Kazan Cathedral

By
Image
Last summer we took the time to visit one of St. Petersburg's famous cathedrals. This impressive building is the Kazan Cathedral. It serves as the "mother cathedral" of the Russian Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg. Built in the early 1800s, the church is modeled after St. Peter's Basilica in Rome with two wings spreading north and south of the main cathedral. At the time it was constructed, the Russian Orthodox Church strongly disapproved of the idea that their cathedral would be built in the shape of the Catholic cathedral in Rome, but the Czar's courtiers applauded the design since it resembled a European structure. The cathedral was dedicated to "Our Lady of Kazan" the most venerated icon in Russia. When we visited the cathedral, the line leading up to the icon snaked around the interior of the church. We watched the people inch toward the icon. As their turn arrived, they climbed the one step to reach the icon and then would stop and pray
Read more

New Place, New Space

By
Image
Living room in our new flat Now that we're pretty well settled in our flat in Riga, I thought I'd share a bit about our new living arrangements. We're in a much smaller (and cozier) building this time - a house with only four flats in it. The stone house was built in 1800s so has very thick walls. Hopefully, that will keep out the heat in the summer. As you can see by the picture on the left, our flat actually has two floors. The upper floor has our bedroom, bathroom and family room, so we have lots more space than any of our other apartments in Europe. We have lots of room for guests (hint). The lower level has the living room, office, kitchen and another bathroom. It's actually the closest to a US apartment that we've had to date. We have a dishwasher and garbage disposal in the kitchen. The laundry area in the basement has a washer and a DRYER!! First time in years that I have some of these luxuries. During the last week, I have found a couple qu
Read more