Doloplazy Castle

Doloplazy Chateau sits at the heart of a small village in the Prostějov district of the Olomouc Region, roughly 13 km east of Olomouc. It's a modest Baroque residence that survived a fire, a change of owners, and a full architectural rebuild — today it serves the municipality, while its park stays open to anyone who wants to wander through.

How did the chateau's story begin?

Back in the 14th and 15th centuries, a Gothic fortified manor (tvrz) stood on the site of today's chateau, likely held by a family that took its name from the village itself. That pattern was common across the region: minor nobility built fortified seats close to their estates, and over time, as defense mattered less than comfort, those seats evolved into residential manors.

When was the Baroque chateau built?

The turning point came in the 18th century. From 1716, the estate belonged to Johanka Zuzana Stommová, and it was her son, František Josef Stomm, who built a Baroque chateau with a chapel and a park on the site of the old manor sometime before 1729. The Stomm family ran Doloplazy for the next century and a half, until 1881, when the estate passed to the Ulm-Erbach family.

What happened to the chateau in 1904?

1904 marked a turning point for Doloplazy — a fire nearly destroyed the building entirely. The reconstruction that followed didn't restore the pre-fire Baroque form. In place of one compact structure, three separate buildings went up. The main one stands roughly where the north wing of the old chateau used to be, but architecturally it's essentially a new building raised from the foundations. It's marked by a three-bay projecting facade section and cylindrical corner turrets — the detail most visitors notice first when walking around the grounds.

Who owns the chateau today?

The chateau belongs to the municipality of Doloplazy and isn't open for interior visits — a common fate for buildings that end up serving administrative or utility purposes rather than tourism. The surrounding park is a different story: laid out in the 18th century under the Stomm family, it remains freely open to visitors and is the main reason to stop by.

What else is worth seeing in the village?

Doloplazy itself has a documented history going back to 1233 and counts roughly 1,300 residents today. The village is home to the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius, listed as a cultural monument. It's also known for hosting the Jízda králů (Ride of the Kings) each year, a traditional Hanakian custom organized by the local Olešnica group and one of the region's most distinctive folk traditions.

Frequently asked questions

Can you visit the inside of Doloplazy Chateau? No, the chateau building itself is closed to visitors — it belongs to the municipality and is used for purposes other than tourism. The adjoining park, however, is freely open.

How old is the chateau? The current building dates mostly from after the 1904 fire, though it stands on the site of a Baroque chateau built before 1729, which itself replaced a medieval fortified manor from the 14th-15th centuries.

Who owned the chateau over the years? From the early 18th century, the estate belonged to the Stomm family (including Johanka Zuzana and František Josef Stomm), and from 1881 onward to the Ulm-Erbach family.

Is the park around the chateau open to the public? Yes, the 18th-century park surrounding the chateau is freely accessible to visitors year-round.

How do you get to Doloplazy? The village lies about 13 km east of Olomouc, in the Prostějov district of the Olomouc Region.