Eastern Czech Republic: Hradec Králové and Hradek at Nehanits

I invite you on a trip to the Eastern castles of the Czech Republic. The first castle, which we will visit - one of the youngest castles in the Czech Republic - was built in the second half of the XIX century on the initiative of Františka Arnošt, Count of the Garrach family. The castle is located near the town of Hradec-Králové near the town of Nehanice, was called Cherveny Hradek or Hradek at Nehanits. The young Count František Arnošt Garrach spent a long time traveling in England. He was fascinated by the architecture of ancient English castles and, returning to his homeland, the count decided to build the castle of his dreams. The family was rich enough to make the dream a reality. So there was an amazing castle Gradek-u-Nehanitz. To create an ancient atmosphere, the owner brought from Austria whole portals with columns, wooden decoration of floors, walls, hinged ceilings (all this wealth was bought at auctions, cut off from sold-out castles). One of the oldest objects in the castle are sculptures of lions of the XIII century, brought from Italy. The castle was designed by the owner with great love: in the Golden Room, the walls were tightened with cramped skin and covered with real gold (hence the name of this room). In general, František’s passion for antiques made Hradek at Nehanits an extraordinary museum of the European Renaissance. In the castle there is an amazing collection of paintings; you can get acquainted with samples of the products of the famous glass manufactory Garrach, admire the collection of Saxon porcelain. In parallel with the construction of the castle, the ennobling of the adjacent territory also went. In 1844, from almost 20 hectares of forest surrounding the castle, landscape designer L. Kruger turned into a wonderful park. On the remaining lands belonging to the castle (almost 200 hectares), a reserve and a nursery for pheasant breeding were located. Almost every castle in the Czech Republic has its own legend. The castle of Hradek Nehanits also has its own: in the count’s salon there is a rocking chair, in which the count himself loved to rest. They say that when a tired person sits in this chair, sleepiness falls on him almost immediately, and if you do not immediately get up from the chair, you can stay in it forever. It was in this chair that the last minutes of Count Františka Garrach’s life passed, and according to legend, at night the spirit of the count returns to his favorite chair and sadly looks out the window. I think that a visit to this unique castle will leave a lasting impression on you! Then we will continue our trip and go to a very unusual place - the city of Hradec Králové, which is located about 100 km from Prague and is the center of Eastern Bohemia. And this city is unusual in that it was here for several centuries came to live out their lives widowed queens, hence the name of this place. The history of the city begins from the X century, but the status of the royal city of Hradec Králové received only in the 13th century, when Przemysel Ottokar I built a castle here. The city stands at the confluence of two rivers - Labe (Elba) and Orlitsa. The Labe River divides the city into Old and New. The first perception of the city is cute small multi-colored houses, narrow cobbled pavements, a picturesque promenade, green parks. We will get acquainted with the central historical part of the city - Big and Small Square. Here is the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit - a majestic Gothic structure of the XIV century, the plague pillar - St. Mary's Column (however, in almost every major European city since medieval history you can find similar monuments), the Old Town Hall, the Church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary and many other architectural monuments, and almost every building has its own amazing story, which I will tell you with pleasure.