Neighbourhood

The Český Šternberk Castle

The castle was created by Zdeslav from Divišov before 1241 and it has been held by his descendants named by the castle until the present. The castle was rebuilt in 14 century. As a property of Peter von Konopischt from Sternberg, the castle was besieged and captured by the army of George of Podebrady in 1467. After that, it was renewed and another reconstruction took place in the middle of 16 century. Český Šternberk underwent profound changes after the thirty-year war when the interiors were rebuilt, above all. A new castle building in the outer ward was built in 1753. The last major reconstruction took place in mid-1790s; today’s shape of the castle was finished by smaller interventions in 19 century and at the beginning of 20 century.

www.hradceskysternberk.cz

The Jemniště Castle

The Lords of Jemniště were first based in a fortress, documented in documentary sources from 1542. When the estate was acquired by Franz Adam from Trauttmansdorff in 18 century, today’s castle was built on a slight hillock, west of the old fortress. Its construction was finished before 1724, undoubtedly according to a project of Franz Maxmillian Kaňka, an important Czech baroque master-builder who worked in cooperation with other excellent artists, above all, painter Vaclav Vavřinec Reiner who participated at the decoration of St Joseph’s Chapel. After a fire in 1754, castle interiors were adapted; paintings in the main hall made by Felix Antonin Scheffler date back to that time.

The Sternberg family was the last owner of the castle; they bought Jemniště in 1868 and they gained it back again after 1989. At present, castle interiors furnished with period furniture are accessible to the public as well as St Joseph’s Chapel.

www.jemniste.cz

The Konopiště Castle

The KONOPIŠTĚ Castle was created as a Gothic fortress following the model of French castles at the end of 13 century, probably by bishop TOBIÁŠ FROM BENEŠOV. The first intervention in the medieval structure of the castle was made by JIŘÍ FROM ŠTERNBERK at the end of 15 century; and, after that, by the HODĚJOVSKÝS FROM HODĚJOV at the beginning of 17 century. Konopiště was transformed into a baroque residence by the VRTBAS FROM VRTBA in 18 century.

Archduke FRANZ FERDINAND D´ESTE who bought the castle from the LOBKOWITZ family in 1887, rebuilt Konopiště to a monumental residence of the future emperor. Castle rooms contain museum collections that are based on Franz Ferdinand’s heritage received from the Duke of Modena.  The so-called Rose Garden with greenhouses was built on the area of a baroque garden.

www.zamek-konopiste.cz

The Ondřejov Observatory

The observatory was built by architect Fanta for brothers Jan Frič and Joseph Frič at the beginning of 20 century. Tours, well-maintained area, original works of art, a nice view.

A nice tour at any season of the year.There are many well-marked paths and, thanks to that you can walk to Hrusice for instance and so on.Besides satellites, domes and binoculars you can also see beautiful woody species

web

The Sázava Monastery

Hermit Prokop met prince Oldrich at the place of today’s monastery in 1032, according to a legend. The legend says that the Hermit offered water in a wooden glass to the prince and the water turned into wine. Out of gratitude for this miracle, the king helped Prokop establish a monastery where culture and liturgical ceremonies developed in the Slavic language. The tour during which visitors will recall the era of Great Moravia and the creation of the Czech State includes a baroque refectory and a capitular hall with mural paintings from 14 century.

At the same time, visitors will have the opportunity to see over a baroque church consecrated to St Prokop. The church is a good place for everyone who searches for comfort and encouragement on its premises during regular Sunday Masses. Visitors may let their experiences fade away in the northern garden of the monastery where they can find revealed foundations of the Church of the Holy Cross from the 11th century; the ground plan of the Church which is unusual for the Czech lands (the so-called tetraconcha) indicates constructional influences from Eastern Europe. The former monastery in the style of New-Renaissance Classicism was rebuilt for the purposes of castle housing by a new owner of the Sázava manor in 19 century.

web

The Vráž Firing Range

The Vráž parcour firing range welcomed the first shooters in 1999. It was not created as a result of adapting any existing firing range; it was created from scratch on a green field only for the purposes of hunter’s parcour. We can boldly say that it is the only firing range of its kind in the former Eastern Bloc countries.

Its high level of technical and organizational readiness may be documented by results and references obtained while organizing the FITASC Grand Prix Prague in 2001, Grand Prix Prague - Browning Cup in 2000 and the GP Prague in 1996. We believe that the reputation of this firing range in the Czech Republic is known not only to shooters who are keen on pellet shooting but also to many companies that organized their corporate and presentation events on the premises of the parcour firing range in Vráž.

www.parcour.cz