Zákupy (chateau)
If you find yourself in Česká Lípa and its surroundings, you should definitely not miss a visit to Zákupy Castle. The castle was included among the national cultural monuments. This includes not only the castle itself, but also adjacent buildings, especially farm buildings. In the castle grounds you will also see a castle moat with bears or a French and English park, where you can walk or sit to relax.
Information for visitors
Interesting facts Zákupy (chateau)
The castle excels in interiors and chapels
During a regular tour, you will walk through beautiful interiors, in which the original equipment of the imperial salons is preserved. The furniture has original covers, the wallpapers, curtains and chandeliers are also original. The ceilings are painted by the representative of Czech Romanticism, the painter Josef Navrátil. The castle hosts weddings, concerts, various social events. You will certainly be interested in the personal elevator from 1870. The castle courtyard attracts visitors with its bear enclosure. The castle also includes two parks. Well-kept paths lead through the English park, there is a lake in the middle of it and it is separated from the city by walls. A smaller French park is open to the public.
The castle stands on the site of a Gothic fortress
In the 13th century, a wooden Gothic fortress stood on the site of the chateau. The Berks of Dubá became the long-term owners in the 15th century. During their reign, the construction of the castle in the Renaissance style began. In the same century, the castle burned down and was rebuilt. It was not until the 17th century that the chateau changed owners and was looted several times during the Thirty Years' War. Under the owners of the Saxony-Lauenburg family, the chateau underwent a Baroque reconstruction into a truly magnificent mansion. In the 19th century, the castle became the property of the Habsburgs and imperial property, and a century later the property of the state. In the middle of the last century, it was reconstructed and opened to the public.
Zákupy Castle hosted the Czech king
You would surely be surprised that the Emperor and the King settled in Zákupy Castle for a long time. In the 19th century, Zákupy became the property of Emperor Ferdinand I, the last Habsburg, who was crowned Czech king. He had the consequences of degeneration caused by family marriages. In 1848 he was forced to abdicate and settled with his wife in Prague. However, he spent most of this time in Zákupy. He was a generous gentleman who took good care of the estate, and Zákupy experienced its peak in his time. He also contributed to the modification of the castle's interiors, and invited leading artists to decorate. The local people remembered him for a long time and with love.
Author: Helena Syslová