Litomyšl Chateau, Renaissance castle in Litomyšl, Czech Republic
Litomyšl Chateau is a Renaissance castle with four asymmetrical wings around a square courtyard, whose arcades and groin vaulting run along three sides. The west wing is the largest, the south wing a two-story arcaded gallery, and the east wing holds the chapel. The facades are covered with sgraffito, including about 8,000 lettering motifs on the outer wall.
The site began as a Premonstratensian canonry with a Romanesque basilica, later the seat of the Litomyšl bishopric. After the Hussite wars it passed to secular owners. In 1568 Vratislav II of Pernštejn had Giovanni Battista Aostalli rebuild it; work continued to 1581. The Pernštejns held it until 1646, then the Trauttmansdorffs, Waldsteins and from 1855 Thurn and Taxis.
The castle theatre was built in 1796–1797 for Georg Josef von Waldstein-Wartenberg. Its auditorium was painted by Dominik Dvořák, and the Vienna court theatre painter Josef Platzer supplied the backdrops. The Waldstein family and friends staged conversational comedies here for themselves and the town audience until the early 1840s.
Visitors can explore state rooms, private quarters, and the chapel through guided tours available at varying times depending on the season. Check opening hours ahead of time since availability changes throughout the year.
Bedřich Smetana was born in 1824 in the brewery, an ancillary building south of the outer courtyard. The brewery originally carried sgraffito decoration matching the castle and was rebuilt by František Maxmilián Kaňka after a fire in 1726. A separate Smetana birthplace exhibition occupies the site today.
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