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Published: July 18th 2017
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The bus departed from Municipal Square at 9 o’clock and went to the Old Town Square and picked up more tourists. The guide was a multi-lingual speaker – he is a native Czech/Slovak speaker – and gave English/Spanish commentary throughout the day. While the bus was driving through the city centre and along the riverside, the guide pointed at several historic attractions – Charles Bridge, National Theatre, Dancing House and Vysehrad, where Prague’s history had begun. He told us that it would take 3 and half hours to the destination, Cesky Krumlov, including the stop at the Drive Through (where all the passengers were allowed to have a break and go to the restroom). On the way to the destination, he talked about Czech Republic’s general history, economy, industry and politics in English and Spanish. It was interesting to see the countryside in the central and southern part of the country.
Friday’s traffic congestion made the journey a little longer, and we were taken to the destination just after 1 o’clock.
Firstly, we were taken to the garden with cascades and fountains, which the guide admitted the ugliest part among the romantic castle; after taking
photos with his tourists, he suggested we would move to other part of the castle. While moving into the inside of the castle, he pointed at the castle bridge which connected from the bedroom and the garden. On the way to the 4
th courtyard, we found viewpoints where we could overlook the river and the village of Cesky Krumlov and surrounding countryside – it was very beautiful.
The land of the Cesky Krumlov Castle on the tall rock cliffs jutting out over the Vltava river, has a long period of history dating from the 13
th century. This is the 2
nd largest castle in the Czech Republic after Prague Castle. The original Gothic castle was founded by the Lords of Krumlov some time before 1250. The appearance and the architecture of the castle has been reflected by a long period of history – the structure of the castle was enlarged and reconstructed and exterior and interior designs were executed by Lords of Krumlov, Eggenbergs (Bohemian aristocracy), Rosenbergs (Austrian princely dynasty) and the Schwarzenbergs family (inherited from Eggenbergs) between the 13
th and the 18
th century.
The second generation of the Schwarzenbergs family,
Joseph Adam zu Schwarzenberg was passionate about art and architecture, and gave significant impact of the castle’s reconstruction and social history.
Between the end of 18
th century and the beginning of the 20
th century, the castle suffered from a long period of neglect and it caused considerable damage to the historic interiors and exteriors of the castle complex and loss of a huge amount of treasures.
After the war, the Czechoslovak state recognized Cesky Krumlov Castle as a historic castle and opened the castle gate to the public, but found that the castle began falling into disrepair and it was necessary to gain funds to undertake massive restoration work in the castle complex. Many domestic and foreign experts were well aware of the importance of this historic castle and surrounding town, and the castle complex was included onto the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Monument.
The guide took us to the 4
th and 3
rd Courtyard. Looking at the outstanding mural paintings with mythological figures on the castle building and wall, we could see extensive reconstruction work carried out – these artistic murals on the exteriors were
executed on the basis of the period inventory of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque Period.
He told us that the 3
rd courtyard was the most important place for us: this was where the reserved guided tour would start at 15:20 and he would like all the tourists, approximately 40 people, to come back on time to be able to start the guided tour.
We moved to the 2
nd courtyard. The guide showed us the tower which people climb up the stairs and overlooking breathtaking views of the village and the countryside.
We then left the castle complex, went down the stairs and crossed over the bridge. He took us to the town square. It was 13:20. He stopped his talk and suggested we would have lunch and have a good look at this picturesque town before meeting up at the 3
rd courtyard at 15:20.
We decided to have lunch at one of the restaurants in the square. My father isn’t keen on climbing up the towers and going through uphill routes. After the lunch, we started making a journey back to the 3
rd courtyard. The buildings in Cesky
Krumlov were a lot smaller than Prague, but looked very pretty and showed a lot of picturesque corners. On the way back to the castle, we had a close look at streets and shops. We popped in a couple of souvenir shops and I bought a little coaster with wooden cuts of Krumlov Castle for my father who was having birthday as well as Mark.
Vltava River flows between the castle and the town. Unlike the slow flowing around Prague, the river was flowing fast. There were several people rowing canoes and boats on 23 June.
I was quite curious to see the mural of the bear on one of the buildings in the little lane surrounded by restaurants and accessory shops. Apparently, the bear is one of the symbols of the South Bohemian district; we found the enclosure where the bear was kept in the castle complex.
We returned to the 3
rd courtyard before 3 o’clock. The guide seemed to remember who were his tourists and started checking members of his tour group. There were loads of tourists and group of people in the castle and they were groups of
Cesky Krumlov Castle Tower
If we had climbed up the stairs, we could have shown pictures of breath-taking views. different tours. We tried to follow the people of the Martin Tours we remembered seeing in the bus.
The guided tour run by the local guide started at 15:25. We were asked to go to the chapel. The chapel had a very decorative altar and fresco paintings. Quite a few tourists were taking photos, but, for conservation, the guide asked us not to take photos and touch inside the castle.
We were taken to the Renaissance style drawing rooms, bedroom and dining room where Regenbergs family used in the 16
th century. Rosenbergs family, Eggenbergs family, and Schwarzenbergs family were wealthy aristocrat people and they succeeded in prospering the craft and trade industry in Cesky Krumlov. They decorated rooms in line with the trend at the time and collected valuable pieces of furniture and treasure, but unfortunately, from the late 19
th century, for being away from the main railway line, the town’s industries declined, and the castle and town were neglected as a result of war and the Communist political system. I could understand many of these aristocrat families’ treasures, memorabilia and furniture had gone, but the wall paintings of these families’ coat of arms
and roses have remained intact and were well matched with reconstructed Renaissance and Baroque rooms with mahogany furniture, portraits of members of family and paintings of castles which were owned by Rosenbergs and Eggenbergs family. We were amazed to see a big carpet made of the bear’s fur and the golden horse carriage, which was used to the visit to the Rome Pope.
Finally, we were taken to Masquerade Hall. This hall showed very illustrative and vivid paintings with the theme of a group of aristocrats enjoying the masquerade festival. There were figures of people in national folk costumes and playing musical instruments on the balcony of the stage. Josef Lederer, one of the prominent illustrators in the 18
th century, was responsible for paintings of these illustrative figures. All the people drawn on the wall looked very bright and vivid and entertained visitors on the day. Today, Masquerade Hall is used for summer concerts.
We didn’t seem to have the time to stroll through the gift shop or leaf through the guidebooks, which we should have done before entering the castle. It has been necessary for me to surf through the website of Cesky Krumlov and print out pages of the castle’s history to write this report about the excursion to Cesky Krumlov.
We were very tired on the way back to Prague; we were mostly sleeping on the bus. The bus driver took the different route on the way back to Prague, and it brought us back to Prague quicker than outbound journey. Mark was truly delighted with the excursion to Cesky Krumlov as his birthday treat offered by his mother-in-law.
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