Letohrad Castle, Cultural monument in Letohrad, Czech Republic

Letohrad Castle is a two-storey rectangular building with a separate clock tower on Václavské Square. Count Hynek Jetřich Vitanovský had it built in 1681 on the site of a demolished fortress, and his wife Jana Magdalena of Harasov completed it. A single-storey wing once housed the estate office, and the adjoining Chapel of St Wenceslas, with stucco work by Giovanni Maderna, was rebuilt as a church in 1726.

Jan Burian of Žampach founded a fortress on a spur above the Tichá Orlice, first documented in 1570. Count Hynek Jetřich Vitanovský had it demolished in 1681 and built a two-storey rectangular castle with a separate tower, completed by his wife Jana Magdalena of Harasov. The Bred family began major alterations in 1730, finished in the early 19th century by Petr Marcolini of Ferrata, who removed the old tower.

The castle's permanent exhibition occupies three rooms and part of a corridor on the second floor of the east wing, covering the Baroque era, 19th-century historicism and the early 20th-century Secession. The middle room recalls the Umlauf family: father Dominik carved the frames for paintings by his sons Jan and Hynek. The third room links Alfons Mucha, who spent summers here and rented a studio in the Masaryk school of work, with local-born painter Rudolf Faltus, and holds a working polyphon that played until the 1930s in the nearby U Forchů pub.

The castle sits centrally on Václavské Square and is easy to find on foot in town. Visitors should note that the building operates as a school and may not be freely accessible to the public.

In the second-floor east wing, three rooms and part of the corridor hold a permanent exhibition on the Baroque, 19th-century historicism and early-20th-century Art Nouveau periods. The middle room recalls the Umlauf family: father Dominik carved the frames for paintings by his sons Jan and Hynek. A still-working polyphon, a music box played on interchangeable metal discs, stood until the 1930s in the nearby U Forchů pub.