Tvrz Lošany

Tvrz Lošany is a Gothic residential tower standing on the grounds of a former farmyard in Lošany, a village in Central Bohemia roughly 8 km southwest of Kolín. The stone tower rises beside a small pond that once fed the moat encircling it — the moat itself has long since been filled in.

When was the tower built, and by whom?

The tower is generally dated to the mid-14th century, with the earliest written record surviving from 1355. It was most likely commissioned by a Kutná Hora burgher from the Číšník family, keen to signal his standing in the district. In its original form the building had three storeys and stood surrounded by water — a common arrangement for fortified residences of the period.

How did ownership change over the centuries?

In 1410 the estate passed to Haman Alder, founder of the Alder family of Lošany, who held it for several decades. Jan Čabelický, of the lords of Soutice, bought the property in 1478 and added a fourth storey under a tall roof, while also expanding the farm buildings around the courtyard.

After 1513 the indebted Prokop Čabelický sold the whole estate to the town of Kutná Hora, which administered it for the next few centuries, repairing damage from fires in the 18th century and again later in the 19th. By the mid-19th century the farmstead belonged to František Mašín, an ancestor of General Josef Mašín, the Czechoslovak resistance figure who was born in a neighbouring house on the same property. The tower itself, however, is a separate structure from the Mašín family home, which today houses the Memorial of the Three Resistances.

Václav and Ludmila Švéd took over the tower and farmyard after 1946, only for the communist state to confiscate the property in 1952 and hand it to the State Farm of Kolín. Since 2002 the site has been privately owned by the Heldenburg family.

What does the tower look like, and can visitors go inside?

The surviving tower measures about 8.2 by 8.3 metres at the base and rises to roughly 17 metres. Its walls are built of rough-hewn stone with sandstone ashlar reinforcing the corners. The cellar retains a Renaissance segmental-arch portal, the first floor is covered by a Gothic ribbed vault, and the upper floors — including the fourth storey added later — held living quarters with timber ceilings, staircases and wall panelling. On the south wall, above where the moat once ran, a latrine has survived.

The tower has been a protected monument since 1958 and was listed in 2012 among the Czech Republic's most endangered heritage sites. It remains privately owned and closed to visitors; it can only be viewed from the road running through the village.

Frequently asked questions

Can you go inside Tvrz Lošany?

No. The tower is privately owned and not open to the public — it can only be seen from the outside.

How is the tower different from the Memorial of the Three Resistances in Lošany?

They are two separate buildings on the same former estate. The tower is a medieval residential fortress, while the Memorial occupies the nearby house where General Josef Mašín was born.

How old is the building?

Over 650 years — the first written record dates to 1355, and the tower itself was likely built a little earlier.

How do you get to Lošany?

The village lies about 8 km southwest of Kolín in Central Bohemia, reachable by local roads connecting it to both Kolín and Kutná Hora.