Litomysl Castle

Litomysl chateau was built in the late 16th century by Italian masons working for a Bohemian family, and it is the arcaded courtyard type transplanted whole from northern Italy and then adapted to a colder climate. Its distinguishing feature is the surface: the entire exterior and the courtyard walls are covered in sgraffito, two-tone scratched panels in a repeating diamond pattern, said to run to thousands of individual designs with no two alike. Inside, past later baroque and classical redecoration, is a small castle theatre from the 18th century that kept its original painted scenery and stage machinery, a rare survival. The composer Bedrich Smetana was born in the brewery building in the grounds.

History

Litomyšl grew up in the 13th century on the trade route between Bohemia and Moravia, and in 1568 work on the castle began under Jan Baptista Avostalis and his brother Oldřich, with most of it built by 1580; it was the seat of the Pernštejn family from 1567 until the death of the last of them, Frebonie, in 1646. The Trauttmansdorffs, owners from 1649, had it remodelled by František Maxmilián Kaňka in the first half of the 18th century, the Waldsteins acquired it in 1758 and Georg Josef von Waldstein-Wartenberg built the castle theatre, and the Thurn und Taxis princes owned it from 1855. Bedřich Smetana was born in the castle brewery in 1824, the Smetana's Litomyšl opera festival has been held here since 1949, the castle became a national cultural monument in 1962 and a World Heritage Site in 1999 (Wikipedia, Litomyšl Castle).

What you'll find

• The sgraffito facades - two-tone scratched panels covering every exterior wall and the courtyard.
• The arcaded courtyard - three tiers of Italian-style arcades, used for concerts through the summer.
• The castle theatre - the 18th-century stage with original painted scenery and machinery.
• The chateau grounds - terraced gardens, the brewery building and the monastery gardens below.

When to go

May to September for the full tour routes and the gardens; the theatre is shown on a separate limited circuit worth checking in advance. The town holds a well-known classical music festival in June, when accommodation is scarce and the courtyard is given over to performances. Winter opening is minimal.

Practical notes

The theatre tour runs rarely and in small groups, so the thing most people come for may be sold out or not running at all. The other interiors are a fairly standard sequence of period rooms. Litomysl has no train station and bus connections are slow, which makes it awkward without a car.

Nearby

The town square, one of the longest in Bohemia, runs downhill from the chateau gate.

Key facts