Lorec, fortified house in Czechia

Lorec is a former fortress on the northern edge of Kutná Hora, in the Hloušecké předměstí quarter, later rebuilt as a brewery. Its brewery frontage preserves a Renaissance entrance portal from the era of the Dačický family, and the complex includes a malt house and former hop garden.

Lorec is first documented in 1418 as a fortress with a brewery, malt house and hop garden. Zdislav Zvířetický z Vartenberka bought it in 1544; Ondřej Dačický, who acquired it in 1559 for 575 kop of silver groschen, had it rebuilt in Renaissance style. Václav Dačický built a new brewery here in 1573, and Kutná Hora bought the estate in 1589 for 600 kop grošů. Baroque rebuilding turned the fortress into a brewery and removed its fortifications; the city regained it in 1992.

The name Lorec comes from the Dačický family's predicate "z Lorce", granted with a coat of arms by Ferdinand I to Ondřej Dačický after he bought the fortress in 1559. The brewery that grew out of the fortress still brews beers under the brands Dačický and Lorec.

Lorec stands on the northern edge of Kutná Hora, in the Hloušecké předměstí quarter of Šipší, by the road leading north out of the city. The former fortress and brewery is a building to view from the street; the Dačický and Lorec beers brewed under the Kutná Hora brewery name are the practical link to its past use.

The brewery still makes beer under the Dačický and Lorec brands, and the Renaissance entrance portal from the Dačický era survives in its facade. The name Lorec comes from the fortress that stood here before the site became a brewery.