Chanovice

Chanovice Castle stands in the village of Chanovice, in the Klatovy District of the Plzeň Region, in the southwest of the Czech Republic. The complex today combines a Baroque manor house, a farm courtyard, an originally Romanesque church and an English-style park, and it now serves the community as a primary school, a library and a permanent exhibition of regional folk crafts.

When was the castle built?

The village of Chanovice was first recorded in 1352, but the noble seat itself has an older story: a fortified manor house (tvrz) stood on the site from the late 13th century, and the first written record of the residence itself dates to 1542. For generations the estate belonged to the Chanovský family of Dlouhá Ves, before passing to a succession of other noble owners.

Why does the building look Baroque today?

A fire destroyed the castle in 1780. Its owners had it rebuilt soon afterward, and it was this reconstruction that gave the façades the Baroque appearance visitors see today. During the 20th century a school was set up inside the castle, while the adjoining farm courtyard was taken over by a local agricultural cooperative. The whole complex has been protected as a cultural monument since 1964.

What is inside the castle now?

The main building still functions as a primary school and library. Its restored cellars, together with the vaulted former stables in the farm courtyard, house a permanent exhibition on the folk crafts of the Pošumaví region — carpentry, joinery, blacksmithing and weaving, alongside a display on traditional folk toy-making. A companion exhibit, the "Gallery of Tradition Bearers," profiles people who still practice these regional crafts today. The complex also includes a farm building and an originally Romanesque church, with the courtyard bordered by an English-style landscape park.

How can visitors arrange a tour?

An information point operates on site, and guided tours of the whole complex can be booked throughout the year — but only with advance notice of at least one day, and for a group of at least five people. Chanovice lies roughly 30 km east of Klatovy and about 43 km southeast of Plzeň, making it a manageable day trip from either city.

What about the village itself?

The municipality of Chanovice has around 800 inhabitants and is made up of six constituent parts: Chanovice, Černice, Defurovy Lažany, Dobrotice, Holkovice and Újezd u Chanovic. Dobrotice — a small village of 61 people as of the 2021 census — is simply one of these local parts, not to be confused with the separate, unrelated village of the same name in Moravia, near Kroměříž.

Frequently asked questions

Can Chanovice Castle be visited every day? No — tours run by appointment only, with at least one day's notice and a minimum group size of five.

What architectural style is the castle? Its present look, especially the façades, comes from the Baroque rebuilding that followed a fire in 1780, although the site's origins go back to a Gothic-era fortified manor from the late 13th century.

What can visitors see in the castle cellars? A permanent exhibition on the folk crafts of the Pošumaví region — the work of carpenters, blacksmiths and weavers, plus traditional folk toys — and, in the former stables, the "Gallery of Tradition Bearers."

Is Dobrotice near Chanovice the same place as Dobrotice near Kroměříž? No. They are two separate, unrelated villages that happen to share a name — one is a constituent part of the Chanovice municipality in the Klatovy District, the other lies in Moravia.