Namest nad Oslavou

Namest was rebuilt in the 1560s and 1570s for the Zerotin family from a Gothic castle into a Renaissance chateau on a rock above the Oslava, with an arcaded courtyard and a long gallery. Its collections are the reason to come: a set of some two dozen Flemish and French tapestries of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, hung in the rooms rather than in store, which makes it one of the more important tapestry holdings in the country, and a tapestry restoration workshop has operated on the site since the 1950s and works on pieces from collections across the republic. There is also a substantial library of about fifteen thousand volumes assembled by Karel the Elder of Zerotin, a leading figure of the Moravian estates and a patron of Comenius. Below the chateau a baroque bridge with statues crosses the Oslava, sometimes called the Moravian Charles Bridge.

What you actually see

• Two dozen tapestries - Flemish and French work hung in the rooms.
• A restoration workshop - working on tapestries from across the country since the 1950s.
• Zerotin's library - about fifteen thousand volumes from the 1600s.
• A statued baroque bridge - crossing the Oslava below the chateau.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Guided tours only, seasonal, closed in winter. The workshop is not generally open to visitors. Light levels in the tapestry rooms are low for conservation. The town is small.

Nearby

Trebic and its Jewish quarter are twenty kilometres west.