Princely residence of the bishops and archbishops with a fantastic garden - Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž 860
What and Why
Our road trip took us to Kroměříž (pronounced /ˈkromɲɛr̝iːʃ/), which is famous for its Kroměříž Archbishop Gardens and Castle (Czech: Kroměřížské Arcibiskupské Zahrady a Zámek).
The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in the late 15th century CE. During the time, the bishop acted like a king and the diocese was like a country by its own. Hence the bishop used all the resources he had power over to build himself a residence. The then bishop was not only in charge of religious matter, but controlled political, economic, civil and legal matters. The entire palace is there to exhibit the wealth and power of the bishop.
The palace was built in a Gothic style with various Renaissance details. A major renovation took place in the mid-17th century CE under the architect Filiberto Lucchese who turned the palace to a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work, however was to add the garden, known as the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle, which is not as close as it seems as other buildings have infiltrated between the two. As a matter of fact the garden and castle are a bit of a walking distance (1 km) apart from each other. Upon Lucchese's death, Giovanni Tencalla completed his work on the garden and decorated it with more Italian designs.
It turns out that it is the garden that is the focus of this monument, rather than the palace. As in the UNESCO WHS dossier points out, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Easily one of the most beautiful gardens I have been to, the garden has profound influence on future garden landscaping in continental Europe.
See
Archbishop Castle (Arcibiskupský Zámek)
The castle itself is good, but the no particular impressive. The castle itself also store a large number of art paintings and sculptures. The entire castle was built to demonstrate the bishop power and wealth.
No photographies permitted inside the palace. It is not difficult to remember that the movie Amadeus, based on the great Wolfgang Mozart, was filmed here. However Mozart actually never visited Kroměříž.
The small garden of the palace is equally well decorated and sculptured.
Upon ascending to the top of the palace tower, one can see the entire city. The tower is the highest in the town and gives a good view.
Another panoramic view.
Pleasure Garden (Rozkošná Zahrada)
Beautifully and colourfully landscaped with scrubs and terraces.
The iconic conservatory which sits at the centre of the partk.
Church of Saint John the Baptist (Kostel Svatého Jana Křtitele)
Built in the mid 18th century CE, the Church of Saint John the Baptist (Kostel Svatého Jana Křtitele) represents the peak of Baroque architecture in Czechia.
Great Town Square (Velké Náměstí)
The dominant feature of the Great Town Square (Velké Náměstí) is the usual Baroque Marian column which was built here in gratitude for the end of the plague epidemic in the late 17th century CE. The column is decorated with sculptures of Wenceslaus (Václav, né Václav Přemyslid), Saint Florian (Latin: Florianus), Saint Roch (Latin: Rochus) and Saint Maurice (Coptic: Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲙⲱⲣⲓⲥ, Avva Moris).
Stay
We were forced to stay in Hotel U Zlatého Kouhouta in the Great Square because our car broke down. Actually not too bad for a night stay. Hence I was able to take a picture of the square at the evening. Very comfortable and affordable.
Getting There and Around
Entrance fee into the castle is CZK 340 Kč. We drove there.
We encountered a major mishap during this road trip: Our rental car from Europcar broke down after we reached Kroměříž and we just could not start the car at all. We tried to call Europcar but all we got were nonsensical lip-services.
Fortunately we managed to call Mercedes-Benz and they came in no time. In spite of the limitation of language, other than Google Translate, they took our car to their factory in Zlín at 10 pm, repaired and called us to collect the car the next morning. Turned out the car was not serviced properly before rental. Very professional service and kudos to Mercedes-Benz!
UNESCO Inscription
Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava, at the foot of the Chriby mountain range which dominates the central part of Moravia. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens.
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