CHATEAU

In 1720 František Adam Trauttmansdorff commissioned the well-known Czech architect F. M. Kaňka to build a castle that would correspond to his position as a leading nobleman. The castle is a typical noble residence of the High Baroque period and its decoration was done by leading artists such as M. B. Braun, V. V. Reiner or F. A. Scheffler.

It was founded as a Gothic fortress in the style of French castles at the end of the 13th century, probably by Bishop Tobias of Benešov. Konopiště was turned into a Baroque residence in the 18th century by the Vrtba family. Franz Ferdinand d'Este, who bought the castle in 1887, rebuilt Konopiště into a magnificent imperial residence.

The 14th century castle was converted into a chateau. In 1420 it was besieged by the Hussites and conquered in 1467 by George of Poděbrady. It was rebuilt in late Gothic style after 1478 and in Renaissance style after 1536. Since the 17th century, however, it was uninhabited until 1873-84 when the ruins were rebuilt into the residence of the manufacturer Vincent Daňek.

This rectangular two-storey building with two buttresses on the west facade, in a park with sculptural decoration from the 18th and 19th centuries, now serves as the restaurant and hotel of the adjacent golf course.

The grounds consist of a chateau, a barn and a granary. In the core there is a late Baroque chateau building and a Baroque granary. The interiors of the chateau have been completely adapted, without original details.