Chlumec nad Cidlinou

The Castle Karlova koruna (Charles's Crown)

Submitter: Frantisek Ferdinand the count Kinsky

Two places of Santini's work are interconnected in a particular way. While in Zdar nad Sazavou he worked for the Cistercian monastery, later on changed into a castle that is in the property of the Kinsky family nowadays, he built a new family castle for this family in Chlumec nad Cidlinou in the years 1721 - 1723. Frantisek Ferdinand the count Kinsky was the chief chancellor of the Czech Kingdom and he had built this castle as a monumental villa originally. Shortly after completion in the year 1723, the Emperor Charles VI visited the building and the castle was named Charles's Crown in his honour. The building itself has got a remarkable layout. Three storey side square wings adjoin to the middle two-storey cylindrical core. The interior of the castle was apportioned into ten main areas on both floors. These areas penetrate each other symmetrically in the outside volume. Santini's sophisticated central ground-plan determination gives an impression of a beam central which Santini often used including with the sacred buildings. In the example of the castle in Chlumec, it is possible to emphasise again the Italian experience of Santini so as he lived it through during the years of his study tour when he got acquainted especially with the heritage of Gianlorenzo Bernini. The extraordinary architecture of the castle illustrates Santini's knowledge of the broad range of the current top baroque inventions.

Further Photos

Contact:

Castle Karlova Koruna (Charles's Crown)
Pražská 1/IV
503 51 Chlumec nad Cidlinou, CZ
tel: +420 495 484 519

Opening Hours

September - June	Daily except Monday	9.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 16.00
July, August	Daily except Monday	9.00 - 12.00, 13.00 - 17.00

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