Hořice Castle

Hořice Castle stands right beside the main square in Hořice v Podkrkonoší, a small town in the Jičín district of the Hradec Králové (Královéhradecký) region in eastern Bohemia. Despite the English label "castle," the building is a Baroque manor house erected in the first half of the 18th century around the core of a medieval stronghold first recorded in the 13th century.

How did the building change over the centuries?

At the end of the 15th century, the original fortress was rebuilt in the late Gothic style using sandstone with timber structural elements. During the Renaissance, the property took the shape of a rectangular building with single-storey arcaded wings decorated with sgraffito, and a brick tower from the earlier fortification survived in the courtyard. The chateau's present Baroque appearance dates to the first half of the 18th century, when the older defensive core was built around and absorbed into a new residence.

Who owned the estate?

Around the turn of the 16th century the property belonged to the Rašín family, then passed between the Štěpanický and Litoborský families between 1503 and 1532. In 1538 it was acquired by Zikmund Smiřický of Smiřice, but in 1623, following the defeat of the Bohemian Estates, the estate was confiscated and handed to Albrecht von Wallenstein. The decisive turn came in 1635, when the Hořice estate passed to Jakub Strozzi and his sons Petr and Oktavián — the Strozzi coat of arms, three crescents, still sits above the entrance. After Petr Strozzi's death in 1664, his widow Marie Kateřina donated the whole estate to the Archbishopric of Prague, which in 1714 used it to found an institution for disabled officers and soldiers. In 1743 the property passed into state administration.

What happened at the chateau in 1775?

The building was caught up in the great peasant uprising that shook Bohemia in 1775. Rebels led by a choirmaster from Chodovice and a mayor from Mlázovice seized cannons and stormed the chateau, though they failed to hold the position they had taken.

What has been lost from the original complex?

Over time the gatehouse disappeared, and the manor's brewery, malt house, brewing storage buildings, and icehouse were all demolished. The former chateau garden was built over and turned into a residential quarter known as Pod Lipou (Under the Linden Tree).

What is the chateau used for today?

From 1945 the building housed the directorate of the State Forests, and from 1950 it served as the headquarters of the Krkonoše forestry enterprise; in 1956 the Hořice Forest Works were established there. The last major renovation took place in 1954, and since 1958 the chateau has been listed in the Central Register of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic. Today it holds offices and staff apartments and serves as the seat of Lesy České republiky (Czech State Forests) and the Hradec Králové Forest Company.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors go inside Hořice Castle? No — the building is an administrative office with staff housing, not a museum, and has no regular visiting hours. Its facade, the Strozzi coat of arms, and a still-working sundial can be seen from the street near the town square.

Does anything remain from the medieval fortress? Yes — a brick tower from the original stronghold still stands in the courtyard, and the foundations date back to the 13th century.

Where exactly is the chateau located? In the center of Hořice v Podkrkonoší, in the Jičín district of the Hradec Králové region, right next to the town's main square.

Who were the most notable owners? The Rašín, Smiřický, and Strozzi families, plus a spell under Albrecht von Wallenstein and later the Archbishopric of Prague — ownership tracked the turbulent history of the Bohemian nobility and the Thirty Years' War.