Zdíkův palác, Romanesque palace ruin in Olomouc, Czech Republic

Zdíkův palác is the surviving core of Olomouc Castle, built in the late 1130s for Bishop Jindřich Zdík beside St Wenceslas Cathedral. Its north and west walls preserve Romanesque paired windows with palm-leaf carving; a Gothic cloister with a well and the Chapel of St John the Baptist were added later.

Bishop Jindřich Zdík built the palace in the late 1130s beside the church of St Wenceslas, made a cathedral in 1141, as a residence for himself and a chapter of twelve canons living under the rule of vita communis. After the chapter abandoned common life around 1200, the cathedral school moved in and the building burned several times. In the mid-14th century a square Gothic cloister replaced the Romanesque one.

The Gothic cloister displays wall paintings showing religious rituals and services, with some works created by Ulrich Apt, who trained under the artist Albrecht Dürer. These frescoes reveal the artistic vision of medieval times.

The palace is part of the guided tour circuit of the Archdiocesan Museum, entered from Václavské náměstí beside the Cathedral of St Wenceslas. A gallery built above the Gothic cloister runs around the Romanesque paired windows, so the carved jambs can be seen at close range. The cloister, the Paradise Court with its 1871 well and the Chapel of St John the Baptist were fully opened after the 2021–2022 reconstruction by architect Jan Šépka.

Stone fixtures preserve student inscriptions from the period when the site functioned as a cathedral school, offering direct evidence of young scholars who studied within these walls. These carvings provide a personal connection to the lives of students from centuries past.