Častolovice (german: Častolowitz, Tschastolowitz) is a market town in

Rychnov nad Kněžnou District Rychnov nad Kněžnou District ( cs, okres Rychnov nad Kněžnou) is a district (''okres'') within Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative center is the town of Rychnov nad Kněžnou. List of municipalities Albrechtice ...

in the

Hradec Králové Region Hradec Králové Region ( cs, Královéhradecký kraj, ; pl, Kraj hradecki) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic located in the north-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Hradec K ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 1,700 inhabitants. It lies around from

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

History

In around 1280, a Gothic keep was built here by a noble family, later named Lords of Častolovice. The first written mention of Častolovice is from 1342, when the village was promoted to a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

John of Bohemia John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of ...

. Between 1588 and 1615, the fortress was rebuilt into a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

castle. From 1694 until the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Častolovice was owned by the Sternberg family. In 1992, the castle was returned to the family.

Sights

The main sight of Častolovice is the Častolovice Castle. The castle is open to the public and includes a mini-zoo and an

English park The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

with a game park. The Church of Saint Vitus is a Baroque building. It replaced an old Gothic church first mentioned in 1356. Some elements of the original church are preserved in the present building.

Notable people

* Jiří Pelikán (1906–1984), chess player

References

External links

Častolovice Castle
Populated places in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District Market towns in the Czech Republic Sternberg family {{HradecKrálové-geo-stub