Jetřichovice Castle

Jetřichovice Castle stands in the village of Jetřichovice, part of the town of Sedlec-Prčice in the Příbram District of Central Bohemia, less than an hour's drive south of Prague.

How do you get there?

Jetřichovice sits along the road connecting Sedlec-Prčice with the surrounding villages, about 3 km from the town centre. Driving is the most convenient option — the trip from Prague via Benešov and Vlašim usually takes 50–60 minutes. Travellers relying on public transport can take a bus to Sedlec-Prčice and continue on foot or by local connection to Jetřichovice. The castle sits at the edge of the village, wrapped in its park, and its distinctive tower is visible from the road well before you arrive.

What will you see?

The building visibly combines two different eras. The older, Baroque section is a modest, single-storey rectangular structure under a mansard roof, dating back to a 16th-century rebuilding of an earlier fortified house. The southern wing, added in the mid-19th century, looks completely different: a two-storey volume in English neo-Gothic style, with a polygonal corner tower topped with crenellations and a projecting bay facing the garden. The contrast between the plain older core and the ornate later addition makes the castle easy to pick out among other manor houses in the region.

Behind the building lies an English-style landscape park, laid out during the 19th-century rebuild. It still holds three Baroque sculptures from the 18th century — older than the park itself, moved here when the estate was expanded. The castle remains in private hands today and its interior is not officially open to visitors, but the exterior and part of the park can be viewed while walking through the village.

What is the history behind it?

The story starts with a medieval fortified house — the first written mention of a fortification in Jetřichovice dates from the first half of the 15th century, when it belonged to the Opršal family of Jetřichovice. In 1541 the estate was bought by Bohuslav Mitrovský of Nemyšle, and under the Mitrovský family, in the 1540s, the old fortified house was rebuilt into a small Baroque chateau. A brewery was founded on the estate around the same time.

The turning point came in the early 19th century, when the property passed to Jan Nepomuk Kaňka — a Prague lawyer, university director and composer, also remembered as Ludwig van Beethoven's legal adviser. From 1857, on his initiative, the old chateau was substantially enlarged with an irregular wing in the English neo-Gothic style, complete with a tower and a landscaped English park. Kaňka died in Jetřichovice in 1865 and is buried there. In 1939 the estate was bought by a Prague architect who restored it, giving the castle a brief period of renewed splendour before the upheavals of 20th-century history caught up with it.

When should you visit?

Since the interior is closed to the public, spring and summer are the best times to come, when the park and surrounding landscape look their most attractive and a walk around the village and estate is worthwhile in its own right. It's worth combining a visit with a look around Sedlec-Prčice itself and the neighbouring villages of the Příbram District as part of a longer regional trip.

Frequently asked questions

Is Jetřichovice Castle open to visitors? No, the building is privately owned and its interior is currently not open to the public. You can, however, view the exterior and part of the park from outside.

How far is the castle from the centre of Sedlec-Prčice? Jetřichovice lies about 3 km from the centre of Sedlec-Prčice, to which it is administratively attached as part of the town.

Who enlarged the castle in the 19th century? The enlargement was carried out by Jan Nepomuk Kaňka, a Prague lawyer and composer known as Beethoven's legal adviser — he gave the building its present neo-Gothic character.

Is there a park at the castle? Yes, an English-style landscape park lies behind the building, holding three Baroque sculptures from the 18th century and laid out in the mid-19th century.