Cebiv Castle

Cebiv Castle is a Baroque manor house in the small village of Cebiv, in the Tachov district of the Plzeň Region in western Czechia, built over the remains of a medieval Gothic fortified manor.

Where did the original fortified manor come from?

The earliest written record of a fortress at Cebiv dates to 1543, when the estate belonged to Jan Drzdéř of Hrádek. His family held the property until 1603, when it passed to Jindřich Strojetický of Strojetice. Disaster struck in 1657, when the fortified house burned down; it then sat derelict for decades until the estate changed hands again in 1712, this time to the Löwenstein family.

How did the present Baroque castle take shape?

It was the Löwensteins who, over the first half of the 18th century, raised a new residence on the foundations of the burnt-out fortress — first reworking it along late-Renaissance lines, with a square footprint roughly twenty-one metres to a side, and later reshaping it further with extensive Baroque additions. Fragments of 18th-century interior decoration and painted surfaces survive inside, hinting at the residence's former standing. The Löwenstein family kept ownership of the estate all the way through to 1945.

What happened to the castle after the Second World War?

Following 1945, under the communist regime, the building was taken over for use by a state agricultural collective. For years the castle served purely practical, unglamorous purposes: right up until 1998 it housed a kitchen and dining hall for the workers of an agricultural enterprise. That kind of use took its toll, and the building fell into an increasingly poor state of repair over the following decades.

Can visitors go inside the castle today?

Things began to turn around in 2017, when Cebiv Castle found a new private owner committed to a gradual restoration of the property. The stated plan combines two goals: reviving part of the building as a venue for community cultural events, while keeping another part as private family space. Restoration is proceeding step by step, and the castle is not currently open for casual visits — anyone planning a trip should check current access with local sources beforehand.

How do you get to Cebiv?

Cebiv sits in western Czechia, within the Tachov district, roughly 27 kilometres east of the town of Tachov itself and about 30 kilometres west of Plzeň. Prague lies further off, some 108 kilometres to the east. The surrounding countryside is quiet and heavily wooded, well off the main tourist routes, so Tachov or Plzeň make the most practical bases for reaching the village by local road.

Frequently asked questions

How old is Cebiv Castle? Its history goes back to 1543, when a Gothic fortress on the site was first recorded. The current Baroque building dates from the first half of the 18th century, built over an earlier structure that had burned down in 1657.

Who owned the castle? Ownership passed from the Drzdéř family to Jindřich Strojetický of Strojetice, then in 1712 to the Löwenstein family, who held it until 1945 and are responsible for the Baroque appearance seen today.

Is Cebiv Castle open to the public? No, it is privately owned and undergoing gradual restoration that began in 2017; the owner has expressed plans to eventually open part of the building for cultural events.

How far is Cebiv from Plzeň? About 30 kilometres by road, making it a feasible day-trip destination from the Plzeň Region.