Chroustovice Castle

Chroustovice Castle stands on the eastern edge of the village of Chroustovice, in the Chrudim district of the Pardubice Region. What visitors see today is a Baroque residence reshaped in the 18th century into a Rococo showpiece, set within a walled complex of courtyard, farm buildings, and garden that together form a protected cultural monument.

Who owned the estate over the centuries?

The site's earliest fortified building is documented from the start of the 15th century, when it belonged to Ferdinand of Chroustovice. Ownership changed hands repeatedly through the 1400s, a common pattern for smaller Bohemian estates of the period. In the 16th century the property passed to the brothers Albrecht and Slavata of Chlum and Košumberk, and from then on Chroustovice was administratively folded into the neighbouring Košumberk estate rather than standing as an independent seat.

The real turning point came in 1577, when Zachariáš Slavata of Chlum took over. He had the decaying medieval fortress torn down and replaced with a four-wing Renaissance castle, a layout that still underlies the building's footprint today. In the second half of the 17th century, the Libštejnský branch of the Kolowrat family acquired the estate and rebuilt it in Baroque style. The most decisive transformation came in 1779, when the Kinsky family bought the property and gave it the Rococo appearance that has largely defined the castle ever since. The last noble family to hold Chroustovice before the modern era was Thurn und Taxis.

What happened to the castle in the 20th century?

In 1919 the estate passed into state ownership. It first housed a branch of a tuberculosis sanatorium linked to nearby Košumberk, and later served as a youth education facility. A fire in 1948 damaged the building; after reconstruction, from March 1949 it operated as a special residential institution for boys with intellectual disabilities.

What is the castle used for today?

The building still serves an educational purpose: it now houses the Odborné učiliště a Praktická škola Chroustovice, a vocational and practical training school. Since 1964 the whole complex — the castle itself, its courtyard, outbuildings, and garden — has been protected as a cultural monument. Because it functions as a working school rather than a museum, there is no regular public tour of the interior; visitors interested in the region's manor architecture mainly view the ensemble from the courtyard and grounds.

Where exactly is the castle located?

Chroustovice sits in the Chrudim district of the Pardubice Region, close to the Novohradka river, whose branches once helped shield the original fortress. It's a small settlement in the quieter, agricultural part of eastern Bohemia, near the historically better-known Košumberk, with which Chroustovice was administratively linked for centuries.

Frequently asked questions

Can Chroustovice Castle be visited? The building operates as a school, so there is no standard tourist route through the interior — the complex is mainly seen from outside, from the courtyard and surrounding park.

What architectural style does the castle represent? Its current form reflects several rebuilding phases — a Renaissance layout from the late 16th century, a Baroque reconstruction in the 17th century, and the Rococo remodelling of 1779 that most strongly shapes today's appearance.

Who was the last owner of the castle? The last noble family to hold Chroustovice before it passed to the state in 1919 was Thurn und Taxis.

What happened to the castle during and after the fire of 1948? The building was damaged by fire in 1948; after reconstruction it was repurposed as a residential education facility, and it functions today as a vocational school.