Buchlovice chateau, Part 1

There are several chateaus with similar names in Moravia, beginning with B and ending with -ovice. The original idea was to visit them all and then completely confound you with a series of posts about them all. But that plan fell through because we did not visit Boskovice last year, and we will never visit the fourth one (the name of which I can never remember), because it turns out it's actually not open to public.

So you got the post about the beautiful cheateau in Bučovice, and now, much later, you get posts about Buchlovice (there must be more of them, because there was so much to see and photograph). And you may get Boskovice even later. (It's an Empire / Neoclassical / Regency-style chateau, so we've been saving that for when I have my Regency dress. So hopefully this year.)

Buchlovice are further to the north of Moravia than Bučovice. There are hills (quite steep at places) and there is also a castle nearby, Buchlov. But we did not go there, so we had a lot of time and spent a very pleasant carefree July day roaming the surroundings of the chateau. It turned out to be a good choice, because there's a large park with various hidden statues and buildings. And beside this, there is also a little zoo - actually a sanctuary for injured wild animals, whatever those are called in English - and every summer, a fuchsia exhibition. So we had a lot to see, and I'm actually still not sure if we managed to find everything that is to be found in the park!

You can read all about the history and so on on the webpage - I'd just pull it from there anyway. :-) Suffice to say, the chateau was built in 1701 and it's an Italian Baroque style of building, I believe one of the first so lightly designed, "summer" chateaus in the country, a type that later became very popular (some of the most famous Czech chateaus - like Lednice and Hluboká - are summer residences, although those two are both from the 19th century). It actually consists of two very similar buildings facing each other symmetrically, one on a terrace above the other. The upper one used to be stables and now houses all the offices, toilets and an exhibition room. The lower building is the chateau itself where the guided tour takes place.

I think I knew I would love the place the moment we entered the ladies' toilets and saw this, just sitting there utilitarianly (is that even a word?):

Even the view from the window was nice.

I have a thing for old buildings with thick walls and paneled windows and doors...

Bučovice - Part 2: The chateau

Well, finally I'm going to show you the chateau of Bučovice!

That is, I am going to show you the outside, because, as is the case with practically all Czech chateaus and castles and places, photography is not allowed inside. This is a big pity for you, because while the tour of the chateau was short, it was most interesting and breathtaking. The rooms are decorated with wonderful wall paintings, and they also have a fabulous library with globes and such things (I always love me a chateau library, and this one was particularly old and cool!). Get a little taste on their official site. And this photo, which comes from their site, but I'm unable to find it from there.

The cheateau is a Renaissance building, with a most beautiful arcaded courtyard (arcades on three sides) - interesting in that it uses lighter-style columns on the bottommost level, unlike the convention for arcades which is to use heavier Doric columns on the ground level. (Having spent a good part of my childhood immersed in an encyclopaedia of architectural terms pays off in a place like this.)

Every single column is decorated with unique carvings, which is what accounts for the amount of photos I took in the chateau. I was in love with the columns.

The chateau is not wholly reconstructed yet. From the park side, it looks like this (and I believe still did this summer when we went through Bučovice on our way to another chateau). So, quite frankly, these blog posts are also my attempt to possibly draw more attention to its potential beauty. The more people visit it, the more likely it's to get a new facade. Theoretically. Right?

The park is a French style one, I believe. It is not big, and there were not any flowers, which I think goes hand in hand with the fact the chateau seems to be struggling to be kept. But there's definitely also potential for beauty. It's a nice, calm, green place.

I was pretty much in love with the clock tower, too. And the shape of the windows and doors.

Who am I kidding. I was in love with the whole place. Look at that fabulous ceiling and lamp! And that's just the entrance.

Even the wholly practical administrative/agricultural/whatever buildings around are pretty.

Seriously, this is Renaissance at its best. Period.

 

So consider this a command: if you ever come to the Czech Republic, don't miss out on this one! You'll get Czech Republic and Italy rolled into one, for the price of one. 

The chateau of Dačice

So, back to Dačice! Time to see the chateau!

 

This building here, accompanied by another nod to the humble, world-changing sugar cube.
I'm not being stupid, telling you it is this building. The lady at the cashdesk and our tour guide told us stories of people who did not realise this was a chateau. Dačice, as I mentioned in the previous post, are a bit out of the way, and apparently, this lovely chateau does not make it to many guides to Czech chateaus (there are so many, it's not so bad, but it's a stupid overlook with this particular one!) and many people are not aware of its existence. Many people, apparently, often assume it's a school (and since many smaller manor houses have been turned into schools, it's not that surprising). The craziest remark, though, was someone calling it "a factory".
*headscratch*

The chateau, like many aristocratic residences in this country, was rebuilt several times; the front side is very much Empire/Regency, but there's a Baroque tower on the other side (towards the park).

 

You actually enter the chateau from this side, even though it has such a lovely front.

  

 

 In the courtyard, there are these beautiful Renaissance arcades (I hope that's the correct term). This is where you enter for the tour. Photographing is not allowed inside (or maybe you have to pay a photographing fee, a usual practice in the Czech Republic). So I have no photos from the inside, which is a pity. The tour is rather short, but very interesting; it somehow feels as a house truly lived in. There's an array of styles of furniture as well, and you get to see both the lavishly decorated "official" rooms and a chamberlain's room, much smaller and much more humbly equipped. Also, it's stocked full with portraits. Portraits, and more portraits, from different periods; I really, really regretted not being able to take photos of those, because there were so many clothes to admire!

Not that I minded so much after all, though; I'll get there in another post.




The pleasant thing about the chateau in Dačice is not just the chateau itself, but also the park. It is, very obviously, a park from the time when romantic landscape-planning was popular; which makes for many spots perfect for photographing. Alas, the light was bad when we were in the park, so not so beautiful photos. But you'll get the idea.





















The other side of the courtyard, with the Baroque tower and a Pseudo-Baroque chapel from the beginning of the 20th century. 1910, to be exact.



Closing with this door handle, the image of which they now use as their logo.

Oh, and don't forget to visit the chateau's official site, where you can see lots of other (and better) photos, also of the interiors. My favourite was the library. My sister said it was the sort of library I needed, and I heartily agree. You cannot quite see it in the photo (EDIT: In the photogallery; choose "guided tour" to see it in full), but the library has another "level", with a railing - much like Professor Higgins's library in My Fair Lady.

P.S. The Czech version of the site has this very cool feature of panoramatic "photos" of various places around thew chateau.