HISTORIC HALLS with outstanding furnishings and collections, throne room, parliamentary hall, summer residence, Manx hall, old library

CHATEAU PICTURE GALLERY – Titian, Cranach, Veronese, Brueghel, Dyck, Bassano, Liška, Carracci, etc.

HISTORIC HALLS + CHATEAU PICTURE GALLERY

SALA TERRENA – 5 halls on the ground floor of the chateau, neighbouring with the adjoining park, eastern grottoes renovated as an underground ore mine

The chateau is located on the corner of the Big Square and it is the dominant feature of the Municipal Preserve Area Kroměříž. An original Celtic hillfort, protecting the ford over the Morava River on the crossroads of Amber and Salt Paths became a Great Moravian hillfort in the 9th century, protecting the ford as well as the trading settlement in the place of today’s Rieger Square with the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. After the decline of the Great Moravian Empire the owner –Prince Otto II of Olomouc, called Black, sold Kroměříž to Moravian Bishop John for 300 talents of silver in the years 1107 to 1125. There was no chateau there at that time and at the beginning of the 12 century only the court, the taverns and the tollbar, connected with the bridge over the place of the then ford, were recorded. The importance of the communication and commercial junction was confirmed by the foundation of the Church of St. John the Baptist of the Johanite Hospital, taking care of wayfarers. A market town was still mentioned in Přemysl Otakar II´s Charter in 1256.

Bishop Bruno of Schaumburg (1245-1281), a Moravian colonizer, promoted the market town to a municipal unit around 1260, fortified with ramparts with three gates. He joined the newly constructed quadrangular square (Big Square) with the trading settlement (today’s Rieger Square), and he built a Gothic Chateau on the corner of the new square and town ramparts, from which there are substructions of today’s prismatic chateau steeple. The steeple prismatic bergfriet is built over the today’s chateau. The Gothic chateau was the seat of the Manx system of bishops Olomouc, place of assemblies and courts of this system, contributing to the economic development of the whole of Moravia. The oldest records of this big feudal organization have been preserved from the 14th century. The bishops also gave the town urban privileges, which were confirmed by Bohemian Kings (e.g. Charles IV in 1340).

The Renaissance period was reflected by modifications of the chateau under Bishop Stanislav Thurzo with the participation of Italian sculptors and stonecutters. The stellar arch on the first floor of the Early Gothic bergfriet is quite noticeable as to the initial works in the Late Gothic style, done by domestic architects and craftsmen. The Renaissance chateau construction, which remained only as a part of later construction work, is particularly in the quadrangular right-angled courtyard, outside with corner towers and an oriel on the north part of the chateau, belonging to the Chapel of Mother of God (1554). The entrance gate from the town on the groundfloor of the bergriet has already in Thurzo´s emblem angels conceived in the Renaissance manner, vegetation decoration and an entablature with a text writing down Stanislas Thurzo´s merit in the construction of the chateau in the form of humanistic capital.

Emperor Rudolf II renewed the princely title to the bishops of Olmutz in 1588, which was first used by the famous Cardinal Francis of Dietrichstein. The town as well as the chateau were destroyed by General Torstenson´s Swedish troops in 1643. Only the representative of the new nobility after the Battle of the White Mountain – Bishop Charles II, Count of Liechtenstein-Castelcorn (1664-1695) started with the necessary reconstruction of the chateau with an idea of establishing a prestige princely residence and, later, radical reconstruction based on the projects of Italian architects Filiberto Lucchese and Giovanni Pietro Tencalla. The architects, proceeding from the Italian patterns of Vignoli´s school, created prestige Proto-Baroque façades appearing monumental with the total weight of the two-floor building, and they especially equipped the interior architecturally and artistically with a number of statues, staircases and rooms of the first floor (piano nobile). They represent the status of the prince and bishop. The halls have stucco ceilings, sectional decorations of walls with paintings. The Big Dining Hall, sala terrena, library halls, the Manx hall, and St. Sebastian's Chapel appear quite monumental. The bishop is also the founder of the collection of books, manuscripts, graphics, music archive and the picture collection, one of the most prominent collections of Central Europe.

The chateau served for important events and visits of monarchs, statesmen, artists, negotiations of the Constituent Assembly of Austrian Nations from 1848 to 49, the Meeting of Emperors (1885), and also in the modern times for Czechoslovak Parliamentary and Government Sessions (1991). It is especially used for concerts, music festivals in Kroměříž, shooting films (Amadeus, Immortal Mistress, the Ear, the Frog King, Eugene Onegin, Napoleon, etc.), and television programmes and competitions (Agnes of Bohemia’s Treasure, Indiana Jones, etc.). Sessions and conferences of the state power bodies and also of big units, weddings and other festive events (school-leaving certificates presentation ceremonies, etc.) are, apart from all forms of the utilization of the chateau for visits, a topic for the radio, television and professional as well as daily press.

The chateau is a National Monument of the Czech Republic and together with the historical gardens it has been entered on the List of the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage since 5 December 1998. It is administered by the National Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments, Zoning and Planning Department in Kroměříž.

The steeple, sala terrena, historical halls of the 1st and 2nd floors, and the picture gallery with works by the masters of world painting (Titian, Veronese, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Anthony van Dyck, Annibale Carracci, Jan I Brueghel, etc.) are made accessible to the visitors. The Chateau Garden is directly at the chateau, and the famous Flower Garden to the west of the chateau.