Sightseeing In Czech Republic, Private tours

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The town was preceded by a Slavonic fortified settlement, replaced later by a royal castle. The development of the town went on without interruption through the entire Medieval period, so that by the 14th century Hradec already ranked among the most architecturally rich Czech towns. The largest sacral urban structure is the Church of the Holy Spirit, a triple nave tower-like pseudo-basilica, founded by the Queen Eliška Rejčka in 1307. Between 1654 and 1666 the Jesuits built the Church of Assumption of the Virgin Mary according to a design by C. Lurago and fitted it with valuable Baroque furnishings. Not far from the Jesuit college, M. A. Canevalle built a bishop's residence in 1709 - 1710, and the Marian sculptural group in the middle of the square is only a few years younger.

The royal town, founded in the 13th century, is the center of the South Bohemian region, presently holding a hundred thousand inhabitants. All the houses on the large square and many in adjacent streets have arcades. A Black tower, 72 meters high, finished in 1577 dominates the town. The town hall (see picture) received its present shape in 1730. An important work of South Bohemian Baroque is the Samson fountain on Budìjovice square. The biggest of Budìjovice's churches is the St. Nicholas cathedral (beside the Black tower). This originally Gothic church was burnt out during the big town fire of 1641, but it was immediately reconstructed in the following years. There are other sights in the historical center of the town, for example, the Dominican monastery, the Virgin Mary Sacrifice church and parts of fortifications with two prismatic towers. The Budvar brewery is small compared to world giants of beer production, but Budvar still manages to frighten the competition with its amazing flavour. Several large companies have vied to buy the brewery and then immediately shut it down to eliminate its threat, but the Czech government which is the owner has not sold out. Budvar is better known in the US as Budweiser. But they are not the same firms. Czech Budvar cannot market its product in the US using the name Budvar (so it is now calling itself Czechvar in the US) and Budweiser is not allowed to sell in many European states. Take a tour of the brewery in order to get a sense of the almost cottage-industry nature of Czech brewing.

This early Gothic castle, founded around 1240 is among the monuments which have been named after and belonged, since their foundation up to the present, to members of a single lineage. Cesky Sternberk was conquered by the soldiers of Jiri of Podebrady in 1467. The ruined castle was later returned to the aristocracy of Sternberk and they extended it in a ostentatious reconstruction securing the castle with powerful fortifications. The last significant adaptations took place in the second half of 17th century, when the original broken silhouette nearly disappeared. During the tour you will walk through Baroque rooms with period furnishings of considerable artistic value, complemented with more recent furniture from the 19th century. There is a beautiful Baroque stucco decoration in some of the halls (for example in the Knight Hall, see picture). Other rooms are dedicated to important representatives of the Sternberk family. Among the collections, one that stands out is a large collection of graphic sheets from the 17th century. Also, historical weapons and hunting trophies are exhibited there.

Kutna Hora, 70km from Praha, a medieval, silver-mining town that once rivaled Prague in importance. A small picturesque town with many examples of Gothic & Baroque architecture it was added to UNESCO's register of World Cultural & Natural Heritage Sites in 1996. The town of Sedlec is a suburb of Kutna Hora and is about 800 years old. Because of the interest in the Ossuary, signs make finding the chapel simple as one walks from the train station into town. Outside the ossuary is a small cemetery. As all cemeteries in the Czech and Slovak Republics, this one is manicured and immaculate. Gravesites are meticulously kept and most have beautiful flowers or herbs planted on them. Take a moment to enjoy the cemetery before entering the chapel. To get in the chapel will cost about 30 Czech Crowns or the equivalent of $1 in US currency. For another 25 CK, you can take photographs in the chapel. On the ticket is written: "You are entering a pious space. Conserve, please, respect to the dead. Do not touch the bones. Do not enter outside the reserved space. Thank you for your visit." A brief history of the Ossuary begins in 1142 when a Cistercian monastery was founded in what was then Bohemia. It was a very popular monastery because an abbot had brought in some earth from Jerusalem and sprinkled it on the monastery's graveyard. Because of the terrible epidemics of the plague during the Middle Ages in Europe, thousands of people died. Many wanted to be buried in this sacred graveyard by this monastery in Sedlec. A small chapel, All Saints' Chapel, was built there in the 14th century, and it eventually became an ossuary. In 1870, a Czech woodcarver named Frantisek Rint arranged the bones to decorate the interior of the church because, the story says, the cemetery was filled and others wanted to be buried there. The easiest solution was to move the bones into the chapel. Tourists who have seen pictures of the inside of the chapel may think they know what to expect; however, most are astounded at the sight of the bones in the small chapel. The incredible imagination of Mr. Rint is amazing. Bones are used to decorate everything. The bones of 40,000 people were used to create this fascinating chapel! There is a bone altar, huge bone bells about 15' wide each, a bone chandelier, bone crosses, bone chalices, and a "real” coat of arms. The chandelier is made of at least one of every bone in the human body. The coat of arms is that of the Schwarzenberg family. Mr. Rint even made a bone sign with his signature on it! There is a quiet hush inside the chapel as people stand in awe of what they are seeing. The arrangement of the bones of the altar gives it a lace-like appearance. The chandelier hangs daintily overhead. The coolness of the chapel enhances the atmosphere. Reverence is felt in the air. As the ticket says, “respect to the dead” is given in solemn silence, and amazement lingers long after leaving the chapel.

Only few towns in Europe, Marianske Lazne (Marienbad) among them, have so many natural riches and beautiful sceneries. It lies in the midst of woods and parks, in a sea of green. This town became famous because of its curative mineral springs. There are about forty mineral springs in the town and its surroundings area. The town has an advantageous location in the heart of Europe - 12km from the German border; in addition, it offers many sports, cultural and social opportunities - swimming-pools, numerous relaxation, rehabilitation, and spa facilities, two tennis clubs, a riding club, golf and yachting clubs, a skating ring and other gym and fit centres. It has a Municipal Theatre, a museum, concert halls, promenade concerts, cinemas, and exhibitions offering rich cultural and social experiences. The town carries on the traditions of its famous visitors - Goethe, Chopin, Liszt, Ibsen, Strauss, Wagner, Kipling, Edison, on the traditions of many monarchs, scientists and artists from all over the world. There are many luxury hotels and other private accommodation available. The town is able to accommodate at one time 20000 guests. History of Marianske Lazne town is binded closely with Tepla monastery. The monastery was founded in 1193 by Hroznata. Luckily the region was governed by clever monks, thanks to whom we may admire rich cultural heritage. Marianske Lazne was founded by provident abbot Karl Gaspar Reitenberger in 1814.

Above the confluence of the Elbe and Vltava Rivers there was a Slavonic fortified settlement as early as the 9th century replaced, in the following period, by an early Medieval castle. The settlement under the castle was elevated to the status of a town by Poemysl Otakar II in 1274, and not long after Mìlník was determined to be the dowry town of the Czech queens. Although the castle was expanded at least twice in the 15th century, Zdislav Berka of Dube proceeded to fundamentally reconstruct it in 1553. The Lobkowics followed up with the next building activity at the close of the 16th century, the Èerníns a century later, and in the second half of the 18th century the manor's interior was refashioned again by the Lobkowics to whom the building belongs at present. In the publicly accessible interiors of the manor it is possible to behold arts collections of the Melnik branch of the Lobkowics, including a picture gallery of high quality. Given the fact that Mìlník was the center of Czech wine making since the times of Karel IV, this manor is recommended to those who are lovers of this beverage.

The foundation and development of Carlsbad has always been inseparably connected with the soothing curative effect of its warm mineral springs. They marked the history, architecture, economy and the whole spirit of the city. The springs have fascinated people and have stimulated them since the oldest times. The written history of the spa city began on 14 August 1370 when Charles IV granted the existing settlement freedoms and rights enjoyed by the nearby royal city of Loket at that time. The privileged status of Carlsbad as a spa is shown by a great number of granted privileges confirmed by the Bohemian rulers on an ongoing basis until 1858. The Carlsbad spa cure consisted in particular of baths from the Middle Ages until the late 16th century.

The drinking cure started to gain ground more only at the suggestion of the doctor Vaclav Payer who published his first expert book on Carlsbad cure in Leipzig in 1522. In his book, he recommended thermal water drinking besides baths. The local doctors Michael Reudenius and Johann Stephan Strobelberger became other enthusiastic promoters of the drinking cure in Carlsbad after 1600. In the 17th century, the drinking cure started to prevail and resulted even in extremes when 50 - 70 cups of water were drunk in some cases round 1750.

Until the late 17th century, Carlsbad preserved its steep-sided Gothic character with city gates and a close development round the Thermal Spring. The dominant feature of the city was a Gothic tower of the past small hunting castle of Charles IV on the rock over the marketplace. In 1520, a city hall was built below it, next to it there was the city pharmacy and opposite there was the St Spirit Hospital as of 1531. On the right bank of the Tepla River over the Thermal Spring, there used to be a late-gothic half-timbered Maria Magdalena Church, mentioned in 1485 for the first time. Round 1500, the St Andrew Church was consecrated at the hillside of the U tri krizu hill (Three Cross Hill). The houses were timbered with shingle roofs mostly.

The lifelong work of Dr. David Becher (1725 - 1792), a doctor of outstanding merit, had an essential importance for the modernization of Carlsbad balneology. He introduced a number of new curing methods (drinking water at the springs, walks as a part of the therapy, a balance of the drinking and bath cure etc.) and he also contributed to the development of Carlsbad. The promising spa development in the first half of the 18th century was interrupted by a terrible fire destroying 224 buildings on 23 May 1759. The fire consequences, however, were overcome in a short time. The subsequent building of the city after the fire was carried out systematically and in a big way. Very attractively built stone houses with more floors, with rich plaster facades and covered with over-tile roofs were built instead of the original timbered buildings. In the early 19th century, Carlsbad experienced another balneology boom. The spa prosperity was not jeopardised by the turbulent era of the Napoleonic Wars either. The curing method stipulated by David Becher was developed by a lot of excellent Carlsbad spa doctors further in the first middle of the 19th century. The biggest credit was taken by dr. Jean de Carro (1170 - 1857), dr. Rudolf Mannl (1812 - 1863) and dr. Eduard Hlawaczek (1808 - 1879). The society meeting in Carlsbad in the 18th century and in the early 19th century was getting international more and more. Besides the aristocracy, the European cultural elite liked to come to the Thermal Spring. Visits of celebrities have been a traditional specificity of Carlsbad and have had an important impact on the cultural history of the city. Let us name for instance Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Theodor Körner, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederik Chopin and Nikola Paganini among the most significant visitors at the turn of the 19th century. Starting from the second third of the 19th century, the character of the Carlsbad spa society was determined by the rich city clients. Due to the French Revolution, the aristocracy was vanishing step by step from the spa. Carlsbad became a popular location for numerous political and diplomatic negotiations. In 1819, a significant ministerial conference chaired by K. V. L. Metternich, the Austrian Chancellor, took place close to the Thermal Spring. The First World War rang down the curtain on the increasing curve of the spa city development; it was the end of the good old days connected with the spirit of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It played havoc with the flood of spa guests, and thus it paralysed the whole life of Carlsbad severely. The protracted economic crisis tormenting Europe did not avoid Carlsbad in the 1930s either. At that time, debts of local owners of hotels and boarding houses grew enormously. On 6 May 1945, the Czech Revolutionary National Committee was set up in Carlsbad, and it took over the city administration without conflict in presence of the American Army two days later. The Red Army entered Carlsbad on 11 May 1945. The building development of Carlsbad in the period of socialism building-up (1948 - 1989) found expression in particular in an enormous housing development. After 1990, a number of prominent historic and spa buildings were renovated, reconstructed or replaced by replicas in a very costly way (Trzni kolonada - Market Colonnade, Sadova kolonada - Colonnade of Orchard, Postovni dvur - Post Office Yard, Male Versailles - Little Versailles, Grandhotel Pupp, Bristol Hotel, the main post-office, spa hotels Imperial, Svycarsky dvur - Swiss Yard, Richmond, Felix Zawojski House, Mozart House, Petr House, Mozart's park, Belvedere of Charles IV, Aberg, Venus, Jean de Carro, Dvorak, Vysehrad, Eliska, Villa Ritter, Sirius, Kolonada Hotels, Krivan-Slovan sanatorium, Zamecke lazne - Castle Baths, the castle in Doubi etc.). Carlsbad, the most famous Czech spa, is still a popular place where both sick and healthy persons from the whole world arrive, which means that they keep supporting the tradition set up centuries ago in the reign of the wise king Charles IV. The international character of Carlsbad and the reputation of its curative springs promise well that the spa city will remain the best-known and most visited place in the Czech Republic besides Prague in the 21st century.

The Secession Style Castle Colonnade fills the space between The Castle Tower (Zamecky vrch) and The Market Colonnade. Today it is an undistinguished complex of buildings formed by the Upper Castle Spring Pavilion, by adjacent premise of the older colonnade and by the Secession Style building by Fridrich Ohman from 1911 - 1913, which was originally built as a site around The Lower Castle Spring. In thirties, a Spring Spirit relief made from brownstone was added to the Colonnade. The buildings forming the Colonnade show all the signs of disrepair. Both steel and concrete elements of the construction served out, because of insufficient maintenance, composition of the buildings and very aggressive environment.

From 1774 till 1820s, a Baroque bath building stood over The Hot Spring, which was replaced by an Empire Style Colonnade in 1826. From 1879 to 1939, the visitors could have admired a cast-iron colonnade built according to design by architects Fellner and Helmer. Sculptures of Hygia and D. Becher by A. Fernkorn were added to the building. In 1935 the Colonnade was replaced by so-called first wooden makeshift; from 1947 to 1969, a "temporary" wooden colonnade according to design by architect Kozák stood in the area of The Hot Spring. The present-day colonnade building by professor Votruba was constructed in the years 1969 - 1975

A wooden building in the Swiss Style was finished in 1993 as a replica of the original Market Colonnade by architects Fellner and Helmer from 1883. The original one was built as a makeshift in place of the old Carlsbad town hall from 1520. The Spring of Charles IV springs in The Market Colonnade under a metal relief with motive of the Spring Discovery. Charles IV, the founder of the town, healed his injuries in the local spring called Glutton (Žrout, or Fresser) and thank heavens the healing was successful. The remnants of the spring pool are still evident in the Colonnade underground.

The Mill Colonnade, called also Zatek's Colonnade, is the largest Carlsbad colonnade and one of the symbols of the town. It was built according to a project by Josef Zatek, an architect, whose bust is placed near The Mill Spring, in the years 1871 - 1881. The New Renaissance Style building is 132 meters long and 13 meters wide. It covers five springs - The Mill Spring, The Rock Spring, The Libuse's, The Count Wenceslas', and The Water Nymph's Springs (in Czech Mlynska, Skalni, Libusin, Knezete Vclava and Rusalcin). The colonnade has 124 columns; the colonnade orchestra podium is decorated by allegoric relieves by a Carlsbad sculptor, Vaclav Lokvenc. Twelve allegoric sculptures representing months of the year stand on the baluster railing of the roof terrace .

The Park Colonnade was built from cast-iron prefabricated elements in 1881. It was a part of concert hall and park restaurant - called The Blanenska Pavilion, which was designed by Vienna architects Fellner and Helmer. The Colonnade functioned as a promenade connecting The Park Spring springing in the basement of Military Balneal Institute, with the concert hall. Nowadays, The Park Colonnade has shape of rectangle, on which ends there are hexagonal pavilions crowned by domes with lanterns. Both the pavilions and the connecting promenade are formed by open arcades decorated by ornamental plant and figural embellishment.

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