Kacina Chateau

Kacina was built between 1802 and 1822 for Count Jan Rudolf Chotek to designs by the Dresden architect Christian Friedrich Schuricht, and it is the most complete Empire-style country house in the Czech lands: a long low block with a central domed rotunda and two curving wings ending in pavilions, arranged symmetrically in an English park. The interiors are the point - a library under the dome with its original shelving and about forty thousand volumes, a private theatre, a chapel, and rooms with period furniture, all conceived as one design rather than accumulated. It now houses the Museum of Czech Agriculture, whose collections on farming, food and rural life occupy part of the building, an arrangement that visitors either find incongruous or find interesting depending on temperament. The park was laid out at the same time and has old trees and water features.

What you actually see

• An Empire block with a rotunda - a domed centre with two curving wings.
• The library under the dome - original shelving and about forty thousand volumes.
• A private theatre - part of the original scheme.
• A farming museum - the agriculture collections occupying part of the house.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only and seasonal. The agricultural museum sections sit oddly with the Empire rooms. The park has been thinned over the years. Public transport is poor.

Nearby

Kutna Hora and Sedlec ossuary are eight kilometres east; Zleby is further on.