Zámek Horní Domaslavice

Horní Domaslavice Castle no longer stands, but the site of this former manor house survives on a slope above the right bank of the Lučina River in Horní Domaslavice, in the Frýdek-Místek district of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Although the building disappeared from the landscape in the mid-20th century, the site remains a point of interest for visitors exploring the region's history and a stop on local sightseeing routes.

How to get there?

Horní Domaslavice sits in the Beskids region, close to the Lučina dam, within easy reach of Frýdek-Místek and Český Těšín. The site lies on the northern edge of the village, on a slope near a local farmstead, reachable on foot or by bike along village roads. A nature trail loops around the surviving chapel nearby, making it easy to find the spot even though the main building is gone.

What will you see?

The history of the estate reaches back to the late 15th century, when a record from 1485 names a certain Smil of Domaslavice as owner of the village. In 1564 the estate passed to Zikmund Tluk of Tošanovice, and in 1654 a chapel was built on the grounds, later dedicated to Saint Anne — the only original structure to survive to this day in largely unchanged form. A later owner, Jiří Harrasovský, also funded the nearby Church of St. James.

A turning point came in 1782, when the estate was bought by František Josef Grohmann, who converted the older residence into a two-story Empire-style castle using stone quarried right next to the site. Once construction finished, the small quarry gradually filled with water, forming the lake known today as Mořské oko ("Sea's Eye") — local legend claims workers struck a spring of salt water during the digging, which is said to explain the unusual name. Ownership later passed through several more hands, including Baron Johann Emanuel Mattencloit from 1889, who was forced to sell off parts of the estate to cover gambling and drinking debts but still rebuilt the roof and added a wooden veranda. By 1933 the property belonged jointly to Antonín Vavruš and František Zavadil with their wives.

The building was a rectangular structure roughly 29 by 14.5 meters, with an 8-by-4-meter veranda, two residential floors and attic space. Thick ground-floor walls and thinner upper walls suggest it grew out of an older, single-story fortified house. Four massive buttresses reinforced the corners, and a mansard-hip roof with metal guttering topped the structure.

Post-war neglect ultimately sealed the castle's fate. On June 22, 1961, the roof collapsed, and the municipal council successfully petitioned to have the building's heritage protection lifted; it was demolished in the summer of 1964. Today only a massive supporting pillar from one of the former corners still stands on the site — the rest of the grounds have been reclaimed by forest and self-seeded vegetation. Graves and monuments belonging to former noble owners can still be found nearby, a reminder of the estate's long history.

When to visit?

The site is best explored in spring and summer, when vegetation is less likely to block access to the remaining pillar and to the nearby Mořské oko lake. A walk along the nature trail around the Chapel of St. Anne makes a good way to combine sightseeing with time by the water during the warmer months.

Frequently asked questions

Can the castle in Horní Domaslavice still be visited today? The building no longer exists — it was demolished in 1964. Only a massive corner pillar and the overgrown grounds of the former courtyard remain.

What has survived from the original estate? The Chapel of St. Anne from 1654, which a nature trail loops around, is the one original structure still standing in largely unchanged form.

Where does the name of the Mořské oko lake come from? It formed in the quarry that supplied stone for the castle's 18th-century rebuild. Local legend claims workers struck a spring of salt water during the excavation.

Why was the castle demolished? After the roof collapsed in 1961, the building was judged too damaged to save and its heritage protection was lifted — it was torn down in the summer of 1964.