Konopiste Castle is located about 50 km southeast of Prague and is one of the most famous and beautiful castles in Czech Republic. It was founded in around 1294 and built after the French medieval castles with cylindrical towers, “parkan” (uninhabited zone between two defense walls), 4 gates and a drawbridge.
The castle is a quadrangular building; each corner is finished with a cylindrical tower. The central part has 3 bigger towers. Each tower was once an independent fortress. The eastern part still keeps the gates with sculptures by M.B. Braun and his pupils. The furniture, porcelain, majolica, chandeliers, tapestries, weapons, hunting trophies, art collections and other exhibits are of huge cultural importance. The collection of the weapons and armors of the House of Este are notably popular with visitors. There is a landscape park of 225 hectares with a collection of foreign and local plants. The Rose garden with majestic sculptures is particularly beautiful. During the 2^nd World War Konopiste served as the SS headquarters. You will see interiors of the Konopiste: St. George gallery with a unique sculpture collection which belonged to Franz Ferdinand, residential rooms, chapel, shooting gallery and a hallway with hunting trophies, cigar saloon, weapon room.

Total duration: ~ 5 hours.
Distance: 50 km away from Prague, ~ 50-60 min. by car.