   |
|
ČESKÝ KRUMLOV | |
|
| Bechyně Blatná České Budějovice Červená Lhota Český Krumlov Dačice Dívčí Kámen Hluboká Jindřichův Hradec Klokoty Kratochvíle Landštejn Nové Hrady Ohrada Orlík Pelhřimov Písek Prachatice Rožmberk Schwarzenberg tomb Strakonice Tábor Třeboň Vimperk Vyšší Brod Zlatá Koruna Zvíkov We recommend |
|
The river Vltava turns three times to flow round the centre
of the town and, after roughly a kilometre-long curve, returns practically to the same
place. Looking from the bridge linking the former Horní (Upper) Gateway with the ancient
core of the town it seems as if there were two separate rivers here. Also from the bridge
the tangle of little medieval streets and the complex of castle buildings on an outcrop
overlooking the river are well to be seen. The original stronghold of the Vitkovici was built to safeguard the ford on the route to Linz and stood on the site occupied by the present Renaissance Hrádek, protected by a round tower. Under Petr I of Rožmberk the Upper Castle was built, linked to the Lower (Dolní) Castle by a bridge leading to a tower with steps called Máselnice (Dairy). Attached to the Lower Castle was a large fortified bailey with farm buildings, accessible from the Latrán settlement through the Červená (Red) Gateway. Under Oldřich of Rožmberk (d. 1462) a three-winged palace was built, linking on to Petr's older object. A new period of building began at Krumlov mansion under Vilém of Rožmberk (d. 1592). The Rožmberk biographer, Václav Březan wrote this about him: "And he had a special liking for building... Therefore Krttmlov castle, old, untidy, narrow, dark and gloomy, was enlarged, altered almost in all parts to become bright and spacious, so that except for the tower the old appearance no logger remained ". In the rooms adapted for Vilém's wedding with margravine Anna Marie of Baden, Renaissance frescoes showing scenes from the Old Testament by Gabriel de Blonde have been preserved. Baltazare Maggi, a prominent Rožmberk builder, linked the two castles together by filling in the ditch and building a vaulted passage. The burgrave's house was erected near the Lower Castle, the tower was heightened by an arcaded gallery and the facades of the new buildings were richly decorated. Vilém's heir, the last head of the Rožmberk family, inherited from his childless brother enormous property but even bigger debts, and to redeem them, at least partly, Petr Vok sold the Krumlov estate in 1602 to Emperor Rudolph II who allotted it as a residence for his mad son, Don Julius d'Austria. In a fit of madness, Don Julius murdered Marketka Pichlerová, the bathkeeper's daughter, and on the Emperor's orders was confined in just a few of the mansion rooms where he soon died. Krumlov remained in the hands of the Habsburgs till 1622 when Emperor Ferdinand II donated it, together with the Prachatice and Netolice estates, to Jan Oldřich Eggenberg. Under the Eggenbergs the interior of the mansion was altered, a new staircase built and space made for a picture gallery. At the end of the 17th century a garden was laid out, west of the mansion, with a pond, and in 1707 the Bellárie villa was built. The bridge Na plášti linked the mansion with the theatre and garden by means of a roofed passage. Anna Marie Eggenberg who was childless bequeathed her extensive property to her nephew, Adam František of Schwarzenberg. He was unfortunately shot by accident by Emperor Charles VI during a stag hunt at Brandýs nad Labem. The Krumlov estate was inherited by his only son, Josef Adam, under whom another phase of building began which gave the complex of buildings their present aspect. In 1747 the riding-school was erected in the mansion gardens by Andrea Altomonte, then the Maškarní (Masquerade) hall was built, the Bellárie was remodelled, a cascade fountain arose on the garden terrace, and when the work in the garden was finished, work began on building a new mansion theatre which was completed in 1766. In the following year a three-tiered passage on the bridge Na plášti linked the garden and theatre with the mansion. In the time of Josef Adam Krumlov mansion was called Little Vienna. Prominent theatre people and representatives of European cultural life came together here, the latest operettas were performed and some members of the royal family and their friends also acted in the plays. The Krumlov mansion ceased to be the Schwarzenberg's permanent residence from the 2nd half of the 18th century and maybe this is the reason why the interior has remained in its original state. Visitors are offered two sight-seeing tours of the mansion. The first is devoted to the Baroque period mainly, when they can inspect the dining-hall, bedrooms, picture gallery, Masquerade hall and other rooms showing the style of living and the aesthetic standards of that period. The second is of a more intimate character. It takes visitors through the private rooms of the last Rožmberks and the romantically inclined 19th-century nobility with many piquant minor items. Every visitor can convince himself of the beauty of this ancient town, one of UNESCO's World Monuments, when viewing it from the mansion tower. Latrán, probably the oldest part, can be seen below the mansion grounds in a wide bend of the Vltava. The name itself, derived from the Latin "ad latere castelli", shows it was built "beside the castle", i. e. at the same time. Mention of a town on the left bank of the Vltava appears for the first time in records from 1274. Latrán and Krumlov town were independent of each other at first, each had its own walls and town hall. In the Hussite revolutionary period, Krumlov and also Latrán experienced a development unprecedented for that time. Krumlov became the place for contacts with ........................................ |
|
|
