Dobromilice Castle

Dobromilice Castle sits on the southwestern edge of the village of Dobromilice in the Prostějov district of Moravia. It is a modest but well-preserved manor house that passed through many hands over the centuries, gradually turning from a medieval stronghold into a compact Baroque residence topped with a distinctive clock tower.

How did a medieval fortress become a castle?

The site's story begins in the Middle Ages: the first written mention of a fortified stronghold here dates back to 1368. By the mid-16th century that original stronghold had fallen into disrepair and stood abandoned. That changed in 1563, when the knight Matyáš Žalkovský of Žalkovice bought the Dobromilice estate. He built a new residence in the late Renaissance style on the ruins of the old fortress, and that building became the core of the present-day castle.

A major rebuilding phase came in the second half of the 17th century, when the estate belonged to the Scherfenberk family, who converted the Renaissance house into a five-wing Baroque castle. The building reached its final form before the mid-18th century under the Kořenský of Terešov family, who acquired Dobromilice through marriage.

Who else owned Dobromilice?

Ownership changed hands repeatedly over the following centuries. In 1600, Jan Žalkovský sold the estate to his own wife, Anežka Bítovská of Slavíkovice, and after her death it reverted back to him. In 1699, the owner became Jan Václav Přepiský of Rychnburk. In 1796 the castle was bought by Marie Anna von Reichenau, later Countess Clam-Martinic by marriage, who in 1826 passed it on to her young relative, Count Michael Zikmund Bukůvka. It was under the Bukůvka family that the coat of arms still visible above the entrance was added to the facade.

In 1870, Zikmund Jaromír Bukůvka sold the castle to Archbishop Cardinal Friedrich Fürstenberg, who in 1874 donated the estate to the Catholic Support Association. Since 2002 the castle has been in private hands, owned by engineer Jiří Bureš, who carried out a thorough reconstruction of the interior.

What does the castle look like today?

The building is a freestanding, two-storey, double-tract structure enclosing an irregular inner courtyard. From the corner of the east entrance wing rises a diagonally set, prism-shaped tower with a round clock face, capped by a four-sided mansard roof. The entrance facade is decorated with a single-bay projecting section topped by a pediment bearing the Bukůvka family crest. The smooth facades are pierced by rectangular windows, framed on the upper floor with mouldings and cornices, while the ground floor is covered in sgraffito with a sharp reddish-brown base layer.

East of the castle stands a Baroque granary, into whose wall a heraldic plaque of Anežka Bítovská of Slavíkovice has been secondarily set. The whole complex — the castle together with the adjoining granary — has been protected as a cultural monument since 3 May 1958.

Can visitors tour the castle?

The castle is not generally open to the public in the way a museum would be; it remains privately owned. Visits are possible by prior telephone arrangement with the owner. Inside, a coat-of-arms hall has been created, displaying the heraldry of every family that once held the Dobromilice estate, and the restored sala terrena still evokes the atmosphere of earlier centuries. Classical music concerts are held at the castle every year, giving the private residence an ongoing cultural role.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the castle located? On the southwestern edge of the village of Dobromilice, in the Prostějov district of Moravia.

Who built the castle as it stands today? The core of today's building was erected after 1563 by the knight Matyáš Žalkovský of Žalkovice, on the site of an earlier, abandoned 14th-century stronghold.

Can the interior be visited? The castle is privately owned, but visits can be arranged in advance by phone with the owner.

What happens at the castle today? It hosts annual classical music concerts, and visitors can see a coat-of-arms hall and a restored sala terrena inside.

Is there anything else worth seeing nearby? Yes — next to the castle stands a Baroque granary with a heraldic plaque of Anežka Bítovská of Slavíkovice set into its wall; together with the castle it forms a single protected heritage complex.