Roudnice nad Labem Castle, Baroque château in Roudnice nad Labem, Czech Republic

Roudnice nad Labem Castle is a three-winged Baroque château built in a horseshoe shape, its open side closed by a lower connecting wing with the main entrance and a lantern-topped bell tower. The wings enclose a courtyard of 58 by 54 metres, and the building holds more than 200 rooms, a chapel and a theatre. Its pale pink and cream walls, red tile roof and red-domed clock tower stand on a raised base above the Elbe.

Prague bishop Jindřich Břetislav founded the Romanesque castle in the 1180s, making it the oldest Czech stone castle built by a non-royal patron. In 1421 the Hussites failed to take it twice, and in 1603 it passed to the Lobkowicz family. Wenzel Eusebius von Lobkowicz had it rebuilt in Baroque style between 1652 and 1684 under architects Pietro Colombo, Francesco Caratti, Carl Orsolini and Antonio della Porta.

The Lobkowicz family acquired the castle in 1603 through Polyxena of Pernstein's marriage to Adalbert Popel of Lobkowicz. A Capuchin monastery beside the castle holds the family tomb of the princes of Lobkowicz. The château theatre orchestra performed works by Gluck, Mozart and Beethoven held in the family collections.

Guided tours are available for the interior, while the gardens can be explored on your own. The grounds are large and some areas involve stairs, so wear comfortable shoes.

The castle courtyard measures 58 by 54 metres, making the complex one of the largest in the Czech Republic. The Lobkowicz collections once held about 100,000 volumes in the castle library, and the original manuscript of Beethoven's Third Symphony, dedicated to Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz, was kept here.