Buchlov Castle

Buchlov was founded in the first half of the thirteenth century as a royal castle on a ridge in the Chriby forest and never became a comfortable residence - the owners built Buchlovice down in the valley for that in 1700 and left the old castle as it was, which is why the Gothic fabric survives so completely: a keep, a chapel, a great hall with a ribbed vault, and the wards, largely as built and roofed. The castle then became a family repository, so the collections in it are eccentric and old: arms, a library, natural history material, and an Egyptian mummy with its coffin brought back in the nineteenth century by Jindrich Vratislav of Berchtold, one of the earlier such acquisitions in the Czech lands. Nearby stands the chapel of St Barbara, the family burial place, on its own hill. The Chriby forest around is walked.

History

Buchlov was built in the first part of the 13th century, on a hill of 508 metres in the Chřiby highlands, as a royal castle with defensive, farming and administrative roles: two massive prismatic towers at opposite ends of a rock plateau and a high palace on the south side. In a second phase in the 1370s another tower was added with a chapel on its second floor, among the finest early Gothic work of its day, perhaps modelled on a French royal chapel; it was so badly damaged when the armies of Matthias Corvinus took the castle in the second half of the 15th century that it was abandoned. Royal property until the 16th century but often pawned, the castle had a knights' hall built by the Lords of Cimburk and was sold to private owners in 1511; the Žerotín, Zástřizl and Petřvald families followed, and from 1751 the Berchtolds, who held it for almost two centuries and, living in the new house at Buchlovice below, made the old castle a family museum. The chapel of St Barbara, a kilometre east, was a burial chapel of the lords of Buchlov from the 13th century and was rebuilt in 1672 (Wikipedia, Buchlov Castle).

What to look for

• A Gothic royal castle - keep, chapel and vaulted hall, largely unaltered.
• An Egyptian mummy - with its coffin, brought back in the nineteenth century.
• Family collections - arms, library and natural history accumulated over centuries.
• St Barbara's chapel - the family burial place on a neighbouring hill.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Practical notes

Guided tours only, seasonal, closed in winter. Access is a walk uphill from the parking. The human remains in the collection are displayed openly. Combine with Buchlovice below.

Nearby

Buchlovice chateau is three kilometres down; Velehrad is south-east.

Key facts