Komorní Hrádek Castle, Medieval castle turned château in Chocerady, Czech Republic.
Komorní Hrádek Castle stands on the left bank of the Sázava at about 360 metres above sea level. Its core is a Renaissance two-storey four-winged building around a diamond-shaped courtyard, with sgraffito rustication on the walls and a small square tower on the north-east side of the medieval core. A three-winged 17th-century addition with a smooth façade and a tower above the entrance adjoins the west side, and an English park surrounds the castle.
Racek Kobyla of Dvorce, purkrabí of Vyšehrad, had the castle built to replace nearby Čejchanov, taken in 1404; King Wenceslas IV authorised construction on 28 August 1412, though it was likely finished earlier. In 1422 his widow Anna of Úlibice ceded it to Hussite captain Vilém Kostka of Postupice. Jaroslav of Šelmberk, supreme chamberlain of Bohemia from 1525 to 1549, gave it the name Komorní Hrádek and probably began its conversion into a Renaissance château.
The name Komorní Hrádek, used since the 1520s, refers to Jaroslav of Šelmberk, who held the office of supreme chamberlain (nejvyšší komorník) of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1525 to 1549. He probably initiated the conversion of the castle into a Renaissance château. A rococo Chapel of the Holy Trinity, dated 1758, stands in the northern wing.
The castle is managed by the Defense Ministry and opens to visitors mainly during European Heritage Days in September with guided tours. Planning a visit around this annual event is the best way to experience the interior.
The castle passed to the Khevenhüller family in 1733 and stayed with them until 1945. After the war it served as a sanatorium for war pilots returning from abroad. A rococo Chapel of the Holy Trinity, dated 1758, occupies the north wing.
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