Kňovice Castle

Kňovice Castle is a modest manor house in the village of Kňovice, in the Příbram District of the Central Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic. Although the building is privately owned today and closed to visitors on the inside, its story stretches back to the fourteenth century and touches on several notable Czech families, including a well-known physician and encyclopedia editor.

How do you get there?

Kňovice sits in Central Bohemia, a short drive from Příbram, a town historically known for mining. The village itself is small, and a car is the most practical way to reach it — the drive from Příbram takes only about fifteen minutes along local roads through fields and forest. Travelers without a car can look for regional buses serving the smaller villages of the district, though schedules tend to be sparse, so it is worth checking timetables in advance. Prague lies roughly an hour away by car, which makes Kňovice a workable day-trip destination for visitors based in the capital.

What is the history behind the castle?

The first written record of Kňovice comes from a document issued by the Prague Hospitallers on May 29, 1333, in which a nobleman from Kňovice appears as one of three guarantors in a property exchange. At that time the settlement already had a fortified manor, or tvrz, together with a manor court, peasant farmsteads, and the homes of craftsmen and noble servants.

Ownership of Kňovice changed hands repeatedly over the following centuries. In 1542, Léva Zrucký of Chřenovice sold the estate to Přibík Břízský of Bříza, who attached it to his Osečeny estate. Left without a resident lord, the old tvrz gradually fell into disrepair and eventually into ruin.

A turning point came in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, when Adam Felix Vojkovský, husband of Ludmila, daughter of the famous pond-building engineer Jakub Krčín, built the first stone house on the site of the former fortress. Following the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, Vojkovský, as a member of the non-Catholic nobility, was forced to leave Bohemia and go into exile — a fate shared by many Protestant noble families of that era.

The next significant chapter opened in 1895, when the castle was purchased by Professor MUDr. Emerich Maixner, a prominent Czech internist who also served as editor-in-chief of the major Czech encyclopedia Ottův slovník naučný between 1878 and 1897. The Maixner family kept the property until 1948, when it was confiscated after the communist coup of February that year. For several subsequent decades the building housed the local national committee, the era's municipal administration body. After 1989 it passed into private hands, where it remains today.

What will you actually see there?

Kňovice Castle is listed as a Czech cultural monument, a status that confirms its historical value, but because it is privately owned, the interior is closed to the public. A visit therefore means viewing the building and its immediate surroundings from the outside during a quiet walk through the village. It is still a worthwhile stop for anyone curious about how a modest yet historically layered noble residence — built over the remains of a medieval fortified manor — looks in the Central Bohemian countryside.

When is the best time to visit?

Spring through autumn is the most rewarding period, when longer, warmer days show off the surrounding fields and forests at their best. Since the village has no dedicated tourist infrastructure — no café or information point on site — it makes sense to treat Kňovice as one stop on a longer route through Příbram District rather than a standalone destination.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Kňovice Castle? No. The building has been privately owned since 1989 and its interior is not open to visitors.

How far back does the history of Kňovice go? The village is first documented in 1333, and a fortified manor already stood on the site in the medieval period, before being replaced by a stone house in the early seventeenth century.

Who was the castle's most notable owner? Professor MUDr. Emerich Maixner, a Czech internist and editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia Ottův slovník naučný, who bought the estate in 1895.

Is it worth traveling to Kňovice just for the castle? Since the building can only be viewed from the outside, it is best combined with other sights in Příbram District as part of a broader day trip through the region.