Kladruby nad Labem

The stud at Kladruby was established as an imperial court establishment in 1579 to breed heavy carriage horses for Habsburg ceremonial use, and it has done nothing else since - the Kladruber is the oldest Czech horse breed and one of the oldest continuously bred in the world, in a grey and a black line, developed specifically to pull the ceremonial coaches of the imperial court and still used for state occasions. What was inscribed by UNESCO in 2019 is not the buildings alone but the whole landscape: about thirteen hundred hectares of pasture, avenues, water channels, hedges and stabling laid out and managed for four centuries as one system for producing this horse, which is why the flat Elbe plain here looks the way it does. The visit covers the stables, the riding hall, the chateau and the paddocks, and carriage rides are offered.

What you actually see

• A landscape designed for a horse - 1,300 hectares of pasture and avenues managed since 1579.
• The Kladruber breed - grey and black lines, bred for imperial ceremonial coaches.
• Baroque stables and riding hall - the working buildings at the centre.
• A UNESCO inscription of 2019 - listed for the whole cultural landscape.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

It is a working stud: access is on guided routes and depends on the breeding and training calendar. Seasonal opening. Carriage rides book up. The village has minimal services.

Nearby

Pardubice is twenty kilometres east; Kolin is west.