Jaroměřice Castle

Jaroměřice Castle is a small Renaissance manor house in the village of Jaroměřice (Jaroměřice u Jevíčka), in the Svitavy district of the Pardubice Region in eastern Czechia. It makes a quiet stop for travelers interested in minor-nobility architecture, well away from the crowds of the country's grand castle circuit.

Where is the castle and how do you get there?

Jaroměřice sits close to the small town of Jevíčko, in a rural corner of the Svitavy district. The castle occupies a low rise at the heart of the village, a position that made it a natural administrative center for the surrounding estate for centuries. Its coordinates are roughly 49.6271°N, 16.7543°E, which is handy to plug into a map when routing a trip through eastern Bohemia.

What is the history behind the building?

The site's story begins in the early 16th century, when Petr Šedík of Kunčina built a modest fortified seat here. That original stronghold served both defensive and administrative purposes, typical of the lesser nobility active in this part of Moravia and Bohemia at the time.

The Renaissance rebuilding

The turning point came in 1592, when Jan Blahoslav Bílský of Kaříšov had the old fortress rebuilt into a Renaissance castle. The stone entrance portal and the valuable sgraffito decoration covering the facade both date from this campaign — rustication paired with ornamental frames around the windows. Circular medallions on the facade hold portraits of a young nobleman, believed to be Bílský himself, and a young noblewoman, presumably his wife, alongside coats of arms bearing family initials.

A decoration lost and rediscovered

For reasons that remain unclear, the sgraffito was later covered over with plain plaster, and the castle lost its Renaissance appearance for generations. It wasn't until 1944, during repair work, that the decoration resurfaced from beneath the plaster; conservators restored it over the following years in the 1940s, returning the facade to something close to its original look.

What role did the castle play over the centuries?

As long as Jaroměřice remained an independent estate, the castle functioned as a noble residence. The Šubíř family was tied to the property, and clergy of the Unity of the Brethren (Bohemian Brethren) are known to have resided there; indirect evidence points to a domestic chapel on the premises where services may have been held. From the 19th century onward, the castle's role as a family seat faded, and it was mostly let out to tenants — a common fate for smaller noble houses of the period.

What can visitors see today?

The main draw is the Renaissance facade with its sgraffito decoration, a rare survival of this technique in such good condition in the region. Look closely at the late-16th-century entrance portal and the portrait medallions, which offer a rare direct link to the people who built and shaped the castle. Modest in scale compared with the grand aristocratic residences elsewhere in Czechia, Jaroměřice Castle gives a good sense of how lesser noble families lived and built along the Bohemian-Moravian border.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is Jaroměřice Castle located? In the Svitavy district, in the village of Jaroměřice near Jevíčko, in eastern Czechia.

Who built the original fortress? Petr Šedík of Kunčina, in the early 16th century; the castle's current Renaissance form dates from the 1592 rebuilding under Jan Blahoslav Bílský of Kaříšov.

What is the castle's main highlight? The Renaissance sgraffito facade, with portrait medallions of the builders and their coats of arms, rediscovered in 1944 after being hidden under plaster for years.

Did the castle have a religious function? Indirect evidence points to a domestic chapel connected with Unity of the Brethren clergy, though the details are not fully confirmed.