Tips for trips

Castle of Lednice

is located on the right bank of the Dyje river, approximately 12 km east of Mikulov.

The castle with a large garden is one of the most beautiful complexes of the Czech Republic. The estate of Lednice was acquired by the family of Liechtenstein in 1249 and it was in their possession for nearly 700 years.

The present appearance of the castle dates to the middle of the 19th century, when the castle was reconstructed in the style imitating English Tudor-style Gothic. It means that at that time the original Renaissance castle dating back to the 16th century surrounded with a large garden was reconstructed. In the end of the 17th century the castle underwent a large reconstruction in the Baroque style in accordance with the plans of Domenico Martinelli, an Italian architect, and Jan Bernard Fischer of Erlach. The castle building is richly decorated in neo-gothic style.

Very imposing are also the interiors decorated with carved pan ceiling, the original historical furniture or admirable wooden staircase with thirty-six steps from the library to the princes’ bedrooms, which was made without use of a single nail. Marble fireplaces are located in nearly all of the parlours. A large greenhouse is adjacent to the right side of the castle. It was built from 1843 to 1845. There is large castle parkland built in the early 19th century around the castle. You can see many rare trees, ponds and interesting constructions in the parkland: Minaret dated 1798, the castle Janův hrad – pseudo-Gothic imitation of castle ruins, or the hunting lodge - Lovecký zámeček.

The complex includes historical greenhouse with the rarest greenhouse plant in the Czech Republic – a 300 to 500-year-old tree Encephalartos altensteinii. However, reconstruction of the greenhouse in the 1990s showed little consideration for importance of the plant, and the tree was irreversibly damaged.
The Lednice castle is one of the most important monuments of the high romantic period on the territory of the Czech Republic, and in December 1996 it was inscribed, as a part of the  Lednice-Valtice area, in the list of World and Cultural heritage of UNESCO.

Minaret

is a romantic watchtower, 62 meters high. It is located in the Lednice castle parkland, and it is a part of the Lednice-Valtice area. It is the oldest surviving watchtower on the territory of the Czech Republic, and at the same time the only minaret in the Czech Republic. It is also the tallest building of the type outside Islamic countries.

Janův hrad

called also Janohrad, hemmed in meander of the royal Dyje from three sides, it was used as a hunting lodge. The ladies and gentlemen gathered there, wished each other happiness, and in the evening they came back to a richly served table. The hunted game was grilled in eight large fireplaces in the courtyard. The horses and dogs could have rested in the rooms on the ground floor, while the riders roistered in the large halls. Etiquette of that time required that the men and women feasted separately, and that is why there were the Knights’ Hall and the Ladies’ Parlours. The young ladies ate, drank and danced not so excitedly, and that is why they needed fireplaces. The main hall was not heated, and when they were too tired of the lively entertainment, they could have had a sleep in the relaxation hall on the first floor.

Castle greenhouse

You needn’t be an eager biologist or to have an A in Biology on your school report to be impressed of your visit to the castle greenhouse. Actually, it is better if you are not very interested in flora:  you will get enthusiastic over immediacy, originality and authenticity of this part of the exhibition. Hot water falls in drops on your head, you can hear golden carps slapping in the pond and smell orchids. The air is hot and beads of dew sparkle on the leaves…

Very romantic – as everything in the castle of Lednice. The members of the Liechtenstein family were not naturalists, and called specialist to establish the greenhouse and the parkland for them. The best gardeners travelled through South America and collected suitable seeds of tropical and subtropical flora worthy of being planted in the Liechtenstein’s estate. They wanted the greenhouse to be beautiful all year round. At present the local gardeners welcome visitors at any time – with exception of January (when the greenhouse is closed for maintenance). There is always anything in bloom; the nature itself creates an interesting exhibitions.

The castle greenhouse was designed and has been operated as an ornamental greenhouse. If you wish, you can ask for a list of names in Latin of the plants growing there, and you can find them by the numbers. But we can have our doubts about interest of the princes and countesses living in the castle in detailed survey of the plants. They came here to relax and the only tree they are sure to know was the Encephalartos Altensteinii, at present marked with a wooden plate. It is the oldest in the greenhouse – about three hundred or even four hundred years old.

The greenhouse in Lednice is a technical monument. It was built in 1843 - 1845, when England, the cradle of industry, gave the lead to nearly everything. There they had the idea of cast-iron structures bearing light panes of glass. The glass roofs protected market places and even the plants grown. The orangery in Lednice was replaced with a magnificent ornamental greenhouse, with the roof structure supported with cast-iron pillars in the shape of bamboo, with decorative leaves on the top. The glass “flakes” have two colours to be able to distinguish what has been left from the original structure and what was added during the reconstruction. Among the leaves of the palm trees and the banana trees you can find a bust of the last castle gardener from the Liechtenstein era. Everything creates one perfect whole – even the benches look like created by the nature in the middle of the “forest”.

The castle greenhouse is 92 metres long, 13 metres wide and 10 metres high. There is no guide to hinder or rush you during the visit. You will set the pace tour and breathe the healthy air. The greenhouse is open even on the winter weekends, so don’t hesitate and come to see us.

Castle parkland

The castle parkland is connected with the castle area. For the first time it was mentioned in the middle of the 16th century. Till the 1630s it was gradually modified into a generous baroque park. It is very important in terms of dendrology. Romantic constructions form its integral part - the minaret, the waterworks, the aqueduct, artificial case and many others. There is also the castle pond with 15 islands.

The local ornamental garden, called Lust and Frauengarten, was mentioned for the first time in the list of property of Hartman II dated to the 16th century. The first exotic woody plants were brought there in the end of the 18th century, and a unique collection of North American woody plants was created gradually. The parkland was often flooded by the Dyje river, and that is why the owners decided to build a unique ameliorative work. They dug a large pond and made a system of islands. In the 19th century the parkland got the present appearance, resembling the old Italian and French gardens. In the main viewing axis the view of the park ends at the minaret built on wooden stilts in marshland. A replica of the Roman aqueduct is a part of the parkland. It is connected with a piled-up rock with a romantic artificial cave called Peklo (Hell). There were waterfalls with water falling from the rock into the pond. The parkland with enormous collection of plants and trees is connected with the surrounding landscape. One of owners of the estate in the following century was Karel I who had the waterworks built. The waterworks supply water in the fountains, cascades, channels, reservoirs and for water games.

The Three Graces

The most interesting thing with the sculptural group of the Three Graces is that, in fact, they are not Graces. The Sculptural group represents three classical goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite and Artemis. Besides the common initial letter, their other common features are a hint of a smile and plump figures. They would compare poorly on today’s catwalk, on the other hand if compared with figures painted by Peter Paul Rubens, they are nearly skinny. The sculptural group was carved from a single stone by Leopold Fischer and originally it decorated the castle parkland in Lednice.

Temple of Apollo 

Some time ago, not far from this place there was the Temple of the Muses decorated with unique sculptures by Josef Klieber. After it was cancelled, the decorations were transported to a newly built small castle devoted to the classical god Apollo. The temple in Empire style was built in the early 19th century, and just as the other saletas of the Lednice-Valtice area it should have made the life of the Liechtenstein court more pleasant.