Castle Přerov

Přerov Castle rises above the old town of Přerov in the Czech Republic, set on a travertine ridge overlooking the left bank of the Bečva River.

How old is the site beneath the castle?

The location has been fortified for nearly a thousand years. A defensive settlement already stood here in the 11th and 12th centuries, and by the first half of the 13th century a stone structure had replaced the earlier earthworks — the direct ancestor of today's chateau. At the end of the 15th century the estate passed to the Pernštejn family, one of the most influential noble houses in Moravia at the time.

When did the castle get its current look?

The real transformation came at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, once Karel starší ze Žerotína took ownership. Under him, the medieval Gothic castle was rebuilt into the four-wing Renaissance chateau that largely survives today, complete with its distinctive cylindrical tower and a dry moat wrapping around two sides of the complex. The building was reworked again in the first half of the 19th century, when Count Antonín Magnis and later his son Vilém modernized both the interiors and the façades. By the end of the 19th century the chateau had stopped serving as a residence altogether. One detail often surprises visitors: the tower only reached its full, finished form in 1997, 225 years after its earlier structure had been altered.

What happened to the castle after Czechoslovakia was founded?

Following the creation of Czechoslovakia, the town of Přerov took over the property and decided to convert its interiors into museum space. In the early 1930s the Comenius Museum moved in, and it has occupied the chateau ever since.

What can visitors actually see inside?

The permanent exhibitions cover a wide range of subjects: archaeology of the Přerov region, entomology and mineralogy, ethnography of the Haná and Záhoří areas, the history of education, and a memorial dedicated to Jan Amos Comenius (Komenský), the influential 17th-century educator and philosopher with strong ties to the region. A dedicated section is devoted to bell-founding, an old local craft. On top of the museum halls, the castle tower doubles as a lookout point, giving visitors a view over the town roofs and the Bečva valley — a good way to round off a museum visit.

Where exactly is the castle located?

The chateau stands right in the heart of Přerov, on the western edge of the ridge above the Bečva, directly next to Horní náměstí (Upper Square), the historic core of the town. That makes it easy to combine a visit with a walk through the old town.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a museum inside Přerov Castle? Yes. The Comenius Museum has occupied the chateau since the early 1930s, with permanent exhibits on archaeology, natural history, ethnography, and local history.

What architectural style is the castle built in? Its current form is Renaissance: a four-wing chateau with a cylindrical tower, created at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries on the site of an earlier Gothic castle.

Who owned the castle historically? Notable owners include the Pernštejn family (late 15th century) and Karel starší ze Žerotína, who commissioned the Renaissance rebuild. The Magnis family modernized the building in the 19th century.

Can visitors climb the castle tower? Yes, the tower functions as a public lookout point offering views over the town and the Bečva river valley.