We never miss an opportunity to visit Czechia - normally I would use Czech Republic, but I was told that Czechia should be used now. This time, it was our friend's birthday, so we decided to visit her for a few days. Every time we go there, we try to put at least one castle on our itinerary. Castle Hluboka has been on our list for many years, but we haven't managed to visit it before as it was always closed during our stay. I really wanted to see it because I heard so many positive reviews about it. And indeed they were all true!
Luckily, the castle was open now, so we could finally visit it. However, we could only join a short tour due to the winter schedule, but short tour is better than no tour. The tour includes only the ground floor of the castle, but I'm sure that one day we will be able to do the long tour and see the other floors as well.
The castle is located in the South Bohemian region and it took us about 1.5 hours to get there by car from Prague . We were late for the tour that day, but we were staying for one night, and booked our tour for the next day. You can visit the castle only with a tour guide, and there are some tours available in English as well. We booked the English tour and we had the most amazing tour guide ever. He has so much knowledge about the castle, and was able to answer all questions that the group asked.
It was after 3PM when we arrived at Hluboka, and as the sun is setting down early these days we went to visit the gardens and enjoy the last sunshine of the day.
The castle sits on top of a hill above the small town Hluboka nad Vltavou, and it is surrounded by many forests where the former owners would have hunted in. The design of the castle and its gardens were inspired by the Windsor castle in England. It doesn't look like any other castles in Czechia. I fell in love with its design and also with its white/yellowish color as the castle seemed to be glowing in the late Autumn sunshine.
In November, there are no so many flowers in the garden, but it was still beautiful because of warm colored leaves on carefully selected trees that are growing there. I think that the garden is designed to be beautiful all year round. In the back you can see the yellow Ginkgo biloba tree. We had a storm that night and next day there were no leaves on the tree anymore. There was a group of tourists under the tree taking photos of thousands of fallen leaves instead. Little did they know what they have missed just by one day.
The castle Hluboka was originally built in the 13th century, but it looked nothing like the picturesque construction that we see now. It was rebuilt several times before it was bought in the 17th century by The Schwarzenberg family. This family coming from Austria became one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Central Europe at that time. When they acquired the castle they undertook extensive renovations with the goal to turn it to a residence fit for royalty.
They attended the coronation of Queen Victoria in England and got inspired by the architecture there. They didn't only rebuilt the castle with Windsor in mind, they also built extensive English gardens surrounding the castle.
The Schwarzenberg family was flourishing until the 20th century. They were rich and powerful, but they also took care of the country and invested in its development. Everything changed with the World War II when the last owner Adolf Schwarzenberg was forced to leave the country to escape the Nazi.
After the war the castle was nationalized and never returned to the family. It is a state property now. There were two branches of the Schwarzenberg family, the one that used to own the castle didn't have a male descendant, and therefore died off. The other branch is existing until today. The most known member of this family branch was Karel Schwarzenberg, a politician, diplomat and stateman who died only a few weeks ago.
When I saw this Ginkgo biloba tree I had to think of tons of ginkgo supplements that I took during my university studies. It must have helped as I managed to finish the school 😊
I have never seen a trees with such yellow leaves. There was not even one leave that would be brown. They turned yellow and fell of the tree.
On the far end of the castle is the most beautiful Orangery that I have ever seen. It's an iron construction that was created in a local foundry called The Golden Crown. It was added to the château in 1867.
It looks so delicate, like to was built out of lace, not iron.
There are several terraces, but they were closed. I will check it out again when I manage to come here one day in summer. The views from there over the valley must be very nice.
There is a hall inside which is used for ceremonies, such as weddings. We tried to open the door, but it was locked.
It was my favorite part of the construction. It's like a piece of art that completed the castle...
The leaves on the first day of our visit..
And on the second day.. I thought that the contrast would be much bigger after the storm, but there were only as many leaves as on the first day. I wonder where were all the leaves that fell of the tree over night. The only difference here are the water drops on the leaves and my shoes are different too! 😊
The next day we went directly to the castle for our tour. We were so excited until we learned that we couldn't take photos inside of the castle! But then I realized that I can describe the interior instead of showing it to you. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! But before that, let's look around the courtyard.
There are extensive reconstructions taking place on the castle grounds for more than 20 years. Part of the castle was cleaned and this is where we can see its white/yellowish color. The front side of the castle is still greyish, waiting for some pampering.
Look at how impressive is this construction. There are so many various shapes, bastions, and towers that one can wonder how difficult it was to find the right furniture for those rooms.
The castle can be entered through a large gate and a brick bridge. When you stand right in front of the castle take a moment to admire its beauty. This was one of the wow moments for me.
The courtyard is surrounded from all sides by what look like residential buildings. I can't confirm that as our tour only included the ground floor. But I have found a sign which mentioned that you can even stay at the castle overnight, so probably at least a part of it is used as a hotel now.
The Schwarzenberg family loved hunting, and some trophies are even on the facade.
Some much work and effort have been added to the detail of the construction. There are not many castles with so much focus on the exterior.
Now you will have to use your imagination as I describe what I saw inside...
It was very cold outside and when entered the castle we realized that it was unusually warm. They have central heating there! From the entrance hall we moved to the private suites of the last four generations of owners. The rooms had walls that were several meters thick at some places, so there was not much light coming through the windows. They were not big in size, but the decoration suggested wealth and style. It was an unusual experience as the appearance of the rooms was not guessed by historians, but it was how the families really lived.
The first room that we visited was the smoking room decorated in dark colors with many boardgames and glasses which suggested that they had a lot of fun in that room. The centerpiece of the room was a gigantic ashtray which was as big as a bucket. I could almost see the thick smoke floating around the room during the game night. All walls had plenty of hunting trophies. I have never seen so many hunting trophies and it was sort of creepy.
When we continued through other rooms we realized that hunting really was their biggest hobby. There were so many trophies that you almost couldn't see a tiny bit of walls. If there were no trophies then there were tapestries about what? You guessed it right, about hunting!
The royal couple celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary in the hunting dining room, and we could see how the table was set and what was on the menu. The room was beautiful decorated with ornate wood carvings, pompous chandeliers and elegant furniture. Those people must have been very small as I could barely fit on one of their chairs 😊
We also walked through the apartment of the last owner (Adolf). It was not as grand as it came from the beginning of the 20th century. You could say that it was modern for that time. His wife had her apartment one floor up and their apartments were connected by a secret door with staircase. His bed was tiny, but it's because they slept in the sitting position.
The tour took 45 minutes and we learned a lot about the family. Our tour guide talked a lot and named so many Czech places that I'm sure he lost most of the audience on multiple occassions.
Do you wonder how the castle looks at night? I did too! We were so lucky that it was not raining that night, so we could walk around and admire it at night too. The gardens were however closed, so we could only get a few photos from the front.
The gate is so big that I could barely reach the handle 😊
The hotel were we were staying was built in a similar style to the castle in the 19th century. It was used as the administrative building and later as a residence. It looks like it belonged to Hluboka.
The entrance makes you feel like you were entering a castle and suddenly you become a royal even when for one night only..
We couldn't wish for better weather (well, it could have been a bit warmer). We loved this moon spectacle!
If you look closer, you will see that this is not a photo of Hluboka castle again. It's a photo of me and the castle is only secondary! 😊
I hope you have enjoyed our tour!
Thank you for reading,
Cheers!
Martina
No jo, Marťa se Stefanem na výletě, takže to znamená co? No přece sluníčko a nebe bez mráčku! :D Úžasné fotky jako vždy a text tentokrát ani číst nemusím, protože jsi mi o tomhle výletě povyprávěla osobně :)
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Len keď sme doma, tak to slnko nejak neviem privolať 😂 teraz u nás nasnežilo a poobede bude pršať..
No vidíš, musíme sa stretnúť častejšie a ušetríš kopec času, čo by si trávil čítaním.. 😂
Great article as always, professionally written and structured. Plus lots of lovely photos of that wonderful building outside and inside walls!... What a world of well recorded architectural details!... I was amazed how that beautiful tree lost all its leaves after the storm, wow! :(... Thank you for sharing your excellent work with us @delishtreats friend!... HUGS!
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Thanks a lot for your kind and thoughtful comment! 😊
We were so surprised to see the change over one night..
Have a lovely day!
Your original way captivated me again and took me through a wonderful place and here I also saw Hluboka, yes a magnificent castle that honestly I must admit I didn't know about.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
There are way too many castles in Czechia.. if you make it there one day you won't be bored 😊
Have a wonderful day! 😘🤗
Thanks for the tip.
Have a wonderful week ahead.
Pretty good shape for "state property". I mean, just marvellous. The trophies on the facade, the portico, the accents. Beautiful. I'm really curious to see the smoking room ;)
Does it still receive kind donations for upkeep by the family?
The castles in Czechia are generally in a good shape, especially if they are of such importance. Yeah, you will have to get there to see it 😉
I understood that they financed big part of the reconstruction after the fall of communism. But honestly, I don't know if they support it until now..
Absolutely amazing!!! For some reason it reminded me of the rook in the chess game. Every shot, every angle is impressive. The photographs where there are yellow trees in front, I loved them! Thank you for this tour and for making this great wonder known!!❤️
You are right 😊 I didn't think about it, but now I can't unsee it.. 😂
Have a lovely day!
My imagination is big hahaha
Have a great day!❤️
😯 Wow! I always get amazed by the places you visit, and you always find my car parked. This time I had that yellow one hahaha 🤣
Next time, I will let you know where I go and you can tell me which car I should look for, so we could meet up and have a coffee together. It's not helpful when you tell me it was your car afterwards 😂
Ok, deal for the coffee :))
And the car hahaha, well, it is just that I remember later where I parked it when I saw it in your posts 😂
You should be more organized, it can happen that one day you will forget where some of them are 😂
Yes, so many of them, and all some luxurious cars 😂
Wow, just the outside of the castle already looks so majestic. I noticed that they really like the color yellow/gold. From the columns, to the windows, to the trees, to the lights, and even the car, there are hints of yellow. I think it is very fun and interesting, so it is a shame that you weren't able to visit inside the castle. It would be interesting to see how much of the interior is also yellow.
No, no, we went inside, but we only saw one floor. There are several tours, but only one is open in winter. The interior was rather dark, but indeed, next time I will go I will see if other floors are lighter 😊
Have a lovely day and thank you for your support!
Great castle! I really like the iron works and also all the leaded glass windows. Such a classic castle look but I suppose thats because us Americans picture Windsor when we think castle. Its great that the castle has been preserved through WWII and communism.
Come to Europe and you will see that it really is not a classic castle 😊 But I understand what you mean, however I think that similar castle are mainly in the UK.
At least some things were kept...
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You really took your time to capture very lovely shots of the castle.
I did 😊 Thank you for stopping by!
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Oh my, the castle is so different when lit up! It's even more grand! You're so lucky to have witness it!
I know, I know 😊 Thank you for stopping by!
Always your ID call has increased our knowledge and these special pictures you make are so good, so many sounds or sights, like going back to old places, it makes one feel so much better. There is more happiness.
Wow, what a marvelous visit ! One more castle in the great Martina tour, I loved the hexagon style and design of the towers :)
But most of all, this is those Gingko that seize my heart and eyes ! Can't wait to see our little one to grow <3
Thank you for sharing this one !
Do you also have a ginkgo tree?! 😍 I can't wait to see how your garden will look like in a couple of years!
I'm sorry for getting back late and I wish you a lovely week ahead! 😊
Yess ! We’re both in love of this tree 🥰 but it’s the most little one haha ! Couldn’t find a bigger one, so this specimen will be even more for the future !
You’re most welcome, I’m too take quite some time 😅 I hope you had a neat weekend !
Have a great new week as well 😘
I wonder if we will still be alive when it gets so big 😂 There is one in front of my former office which is more than 20 years old and it's not even one fourth of the size of the one in Hluboka 😂
Oh, we had plenty of snow, so we enjoyed walking around 😊
Yes, in general they are known for their longevity, but this goes hand in hand with moderate growth...! That'll be for future generations 😅 !
Oh, that's nice ! I imagine that so pure and silent, even in the daily life it can also be a disagreement... I do miss the snowy winters !
Have a lovely day dear Martina 😘 !
I have enjoyed your travel to this castle. It looks like classic piece of art. The tree with yellow leaf looks beautiful. Good post,
Thank you
A beautiful castle.
I think you were lucky that you were late for the tour and that you had the opportunity to take pictures of the castle after dark. the pictures at night are beautiful.
We were 😊 Thank you for stopping by!
The place is very historical and I really enjoyed reading your post about the past stories happens in this place. Truly , a perfect place for a visit.
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
You're welcome, I really enjoyed reading your post Ma'am. 😊
That golden ginkgo tree is the most beautiful tree I've ever seen in an autumn setting, we are all so very lucky you were there just in time to take these amazing photos. I remember Hluboka to this day, it's still one of my favorite castles, also the interiors, too bad they still don't allow photos, don't understand why. I've visited it during summer by pure luck but seeing your photos now, I think autumn is the time when it really shines. Thank you for this royal experience!
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