ZAMEK KONOPISTE

Konopiště Castle (Czech Konopiste) is a Czech stronghold dating back to the late Middle Ages, located about 50 km south-east of Prague. Most likely, the stronghold was erected at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries (certainly after 1294), most likely on the order of the Prague bishop Tobias of Beneszów. However, opinions will appear that the construction was initiated by the ruler of Bohemia - Přemysl Otakar II, and the above-mentioned bishop completed it. Undoubtedly, the Konopiště castle was at the time of its creation a very modern military facility for those times, modeled on the best Western European solutions - especially French ones. It was built in the Gothic style. Around 1330, the owner of the castle became the Sternberg family, which at the end of the fifteenth century carried out its first more thorough reconstruction. In the 18th century, the castle was rebuilt in the baroque style. In 1887, the castle became the property of the Austrian heir to the throne - Archduke Franz Ferdinand Habsburg, the same man whose murder in Sarajevo in 1914 sparked the First World War. The same, in the years 1889-1894, he carried out a thorough renovation and reconstruction of the castle, trying to adapt it to the future requirements of the imperial residence. As a result, the castle received, among others: an electrical installation, an installation with hot and cold running water and central heating. In 1921, the castle became the property of the Czechoslovak state, and the castle survived the years 1939-1945 without major damage. At present, there is a museum there.