Borotín Chateau

Borotín Chateau is a late Baroque manor house standing above the village of Borotín in the Blansko District of South Moravia, roughly 24 km north of Blansko and 40 km north of Brno. It is a modest but distinctive building that spent more than a century and a half in institutional use and only recently reopened to serve the local community again.

How did the chateau come to be?

A timber-and-stone fortified tower (tvrz) stood on the site as early as the 14th century, but it fell into disrepair during the following century. A 1566 record mentions a resident named Alexander Feldendorfer, who took his surname from the village itself. The building visitors see today dates from 1753, when Jan Václav Xaver Frey von Freyenfels, an auxiliary bishop of Olomouc, commissioned a new late Baroque residence, most likely on the foundations of the older tower. It was raised at the upper end of the village green in what is described as a "free French" style.

What will you see on site?

The chateau is a two-storey building on a square plan, set within an extensive park. Its front facade is marked by a three-bay projecting section (risalit) topped with a triangular pediment, while a Baroque turret crowns the ridge of the roof. The complex also includes a chapel dating from 1774, decorated with frescoes by Josef Stern — one of the more valuable details of the whole ensemble. It is worth knowing before you go that the interior is not open to the public: the building currently operates as a residential care home, so visitors can only admire the chateau from outside and from the surrounding park grounds.

What happened to the chateau more recently?

The estate was nationalised by the state in 1948. From the early 1960s until 2000 it housed a social care institute for children and young people with intellectual disabilities. When that institution relocated to a newly built facility in Velké Opatovice, the chateau stood without a clear purpose for more than a decade and gradually deteriorated. The turning point came in 2016, when, after an extensive renovation, the building reopened — this time as a residential care home run by the non-profit association "Za sluncem."

How do you get there?

Borotín lies just off the road connecting Blansko and Boskovice, in the gently rolling landscape at the edge of the Drahanská Vysočina highlands. The easiest way to reach it is by car — from Blansko it is a drive of only a few minutes along local roads. The surrounding area is also popular with cyclists and hikers, since the region is dotted with castles and chateaux that can easily be combined into a day-long sightseeing route.

When is the best time to visit?

Since the chateau is not run as a museum, there are no fixed opening hours to plan around — any time works well if your goal is a quiet walk through the park and a look at the architecture from outside. Spring and autumn offer the best light and greenery for photographing the facade and turret, while in summer the park's mature trees provide welcome shade for a stroll.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Borotín Chateau? No — the building currently functions as a residential care home and is not open to tourists. You can, however, view the facade and walk through the surrounding park.

Who built the chateau? The present late Baroque building was commissioned in 1753 by Jan Václav Xaver Frey von Freyenfels, an auxiliary bishop of Olomouc, likely on the site of an earlier medieval fortified tower.

What was the chateau used for under communism? From the early 1960s until 2000 it served as a social care institute for children and young people with intellectual disabilities.

How does Borotín Chateau differ from the chateau in nearby Blansko? They are two separate sites in the same region — Blansko's chateau is Renaissance in style and open to the public with guided tours, while Borotín Chateau is a late Baroque residence that is closed to visitors and currently used as a care home.