Humprecht, Baroque château in Sobotka, Czech Republic.
Humprecht is a hunting château built in 1666–1668 on a basalt hill above Sobotka, with an elliptical plan and 27 rooms around a 16-metre-high dining hall. Its white plastered cylinder carries a wooden gallery on stone brackets, a lantern with four chimneys, and a golden crescent on the cone roof.
Italian architect Carlo Lurago built the château between 1666 and 1668 for Count Humprecht Jan Czernin as a summer residence and hunting lodge. Following a lightning strike and fire in 1678, reconstruction added an extra floor that established the structure seen today.
The sixteen-metre-high elliptical dining hall in the centre of the building is used for concerts and weddings. Its ceiling carries the Černín coat of arms painted by R. Beneš, with al secco paintings by R. Wiesner below relating the life of Humprecht Jan Černín.
The château is open for tours on select days and offers guided access through its various rooms and exhibits. Visitors should prepare for stairs and multiple levels when exploring the building and reaching the observation area.
The golden crescent on the apex was placed there in 1829, replacing a rusted Slavic cross, because of legends that Heřman Černín was imprisoned in Turkey. The white plaster exterior seen today covers a structure whose foundations had to be reinforced with sandstone blocks after an extra floor overloaded them.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,338 contributors worldwide.
