Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž
The Gardens at Kroměříž comprise a UNESCO World Heritage landscape in Moravia, renowned for the seventeenth-century early Baroque Flower Garden (Květná zahrada) and the expansive romantic Castle Garden (Podzámecká zahrada).
From the source
Kroměříž’s archiepiscopal castle is a Baroque monument in Moravia. The institution describes centuries of ownership by the bishops and archbishops of Olomouc, for whom it served as a representative residence and meeting place. The castle and its gardens entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998.
Editorial reading
Constructed from 1664 by Prince-Bishop of Olomouc Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn following the devastation of the Thirty Years' War, Kroměříž represents one of the most intact and complete early Baroque garden compositions in Europe. The Flower Garden (Květná zahrada, or Libosad), designed by Italian court architects Giovanni Pietro Tencalla and Filiberto Lucchese between 1665 and 1675, is an extraordinary survival of seventeenth-century geometric discipline. It features a central octagonal Rotunda with Foucault-type pendulum demonstrations, intricate boxwood parterres, and a monumental 244-metre colonnade adorned with 44 classical statues of ancient gods and mythological heroes. In contrast, the Castle Garden (Podzámecká zahrada) immediately adjacent to the archiepiscopal residence covers 64 hectares along the Morava River. Originating as a medieval vegetable garden, it was transformed in the nineteenth century into a romantic English landscape park with scenic canals, an aviary, Pompeian colonnades, and rare specimen trees. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1998, Kroměříž stands as an exceptionally preserved monument of the artistic, hydraulic, and botanical ambition of Central European Prince-Bishops.
Recommendation
Witness Europe's purest surviving 17th-century Baroque Flower Garden, featuring a 244-metre classical colonnade, hedge mazes, and an octagonal rotunda in Moravia.
Sources
The château by this garden
Discover the architecture and history of this place at Le Roi du Château.
To the château dossier →