Moravec Castle

Moravec Castle stands in the village of Moravec, in the Žďár nad Sázavou district of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands (Vysočina region), at the junction of roads II/389 and II/360. Today the Classicist-style building serves as a storage depository for the Moravian Land Museum in Brno, its late-Renaissance core built over the remains of a medieval fortified manor.

How old is the site?

The earliest written record of a fortified manor house (tvrz) at Moravec dates to 1374. Ownership changed hands repeatedly over the following century and a half: Víť z Kralic held it in 1385-86, Staník z Chvališova in the early 15th century, and by the mid-15th century it belonged to the Gedeon family of Olešnička. In 1514, Jiří Gedeon z Olešničky sold the estate, together with the village, to Beneš z Vahančic. The property subsequently passed to the Pernštejn family and then to the Lhotský family of Ptení.

Who built the castle that stands today?

After the Battle of White Mountain, the estate was confiscated from Vilém Munk z Ejvančic and bought by Hanuš Jakub Magnáš. In 1630 it passed to Jan Magnáš, known as Bergamosco, who was granted the predicate "z Moravce." It was this Magnáš family, the lords of Moravec, who replaced the decaying medieval manor with a late-Renaissance castle in the first half of the 17th century.

What changed in the 19th century?

A chapel was added to the castle in 1794; it was later converted into the Church of the Finding and Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The real turning point came in 1825, when a fire destroyed the two-story building. It was rebuilt in the Classicist style that still defines its appearance today.

How did the castle end up under museum care?

After 1948 the property was confiscated by the state, and from 1946 the building had already been serving as a children's convalescent home. From 1966 onward, its rooms began to be used to store museum collections, and in spring 1996 the castle formally passed into the management of the Moravian Land Museum in Brno. That depository role continues today: the interiors hold museum collections and are not part of the regular visitor circuit.

Can visitors go inside?

Moravec Castle is not routinely open to the public - it functions as storage rather than an exhibition space. That said, the castle courtyard does host cultural events in summer, so it's worth checking local listings if a visit is planned around that time of year. The building is listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

What else is worth seeing around the castle?

The castle is surrounded by a three-hectare English-style park, laid out in the late 19th century and planted with a collection of exotic trees - worth a walk even when the building itself is closed. In the village itself, next to the castle, stand the Church of the Finding and Exaltation of the Holy Cross mentioned above and a Baroque granary, both part of Moravec's historic core.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the castle located? In the village of Moravec, Žďár nad Sázavou district, Vysočina region (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands), at the junction of roads II/389 and II/360.

Is the castle open to visitors? No - it permanently houses a depository of the Moravian Land Museum and is not open for regular tourist visits.

Who built the current castle building? The Magnáš family, lords of Moravec at the time, built the late-Renaissance castle in the first half of the 17th century, on the site of a medieval fortified manor first recorded in 1374.

Why does the castle look Classicist today? Because it was rebuilt in that style after a fire destroyed the building in 1825.

What is kept inside the castle now? Collections belonging to the Moravian Land Museum in Brno - the building has served as a museum depository continuously since the second half of the 1960s.