Castle Červená Řečice, Renaissance château in Červená Řečice, Czech Republic.
Castle Červená Řečice is a Renaissance structure in this village with multiple wings arranged around a central courtyard. The facades display sgraffito patterns and architectural details in Renaissance style, while cellar spaces beneath glass coverings reveal some original building techniques.
Prague bishops owned the estate from the 12th century and built a fortress here in the second half of the 13th century; under Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice it was rebuilt as a Gothic castle in the early 14th century. Sebastian Leskovec of Leskovec converted it into a Renaissance château in the 1560s, and after 1623 it passed to the Prague archbishops, who held it until the 20th century.
The castle's name recalls the Leskovec family, who rebuilt the Gothic castle as a Renaissance château in the 1560s; Šebestián Leskovec was recorded at the 1569–1570 diets under the epithet "on Nová Řečice". After 1597 the Říčany family took over, and in 1623 Emperor Ferdinand III granted the estate to Archbishop Arnošt Vojtěch of Harrach, who sought refuge here during the Thirty Years' War.
The château stands in the centre of Červená Řečice, on road II/112, which carries cycle route 1224; cycle route 1218 crosses it on the square. The bus stop is 100 m from the gate, and red, blue and yellow hiking trails pass through the town. The grounds opened to the public on 1 July 2023 after the first stage of reconstruction.
The castle's moat still holds water and old protected trees grow in it, while the vanished English park beside the castle was overgrown by self-seeded trees. The southern bastion of the fortification is called Hladomorna, "the hunger tower".
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