Tršice Castle, Château in Tršice, Czech Republic

Tršice Castle is a three-wing, single-storey château forming a horseshoe around a small courtyard, about ten kilometres east of Olomouc. The south entrance is a vaulted gateway reached by a bridge over the partly filled former moat. The east wing has five windows and open ground-floor arcades facing the courtyard; a square block on the north side stands on rock above the village pond.

A Gothic fortress founded between 1318 and 1339 stood here, first recorded in 1377; its founding charters burned in 1642 during the Thirty Years' War. The Kokorský family remodelled it in late Gothic style in the 15th century, and a Renaissance rebuilding in 1532 joined the two south wings. From 1568 the Olomouc bishopric and later the chapter owned it, and from 1581 to 1848 it housed the manorial office with a steward, cashier, clerk and two scribes.

The name Tršice Castle came into use in 1514 and again in 1529, when the seat was already called a castle rather than a fortress. From 1581 to 1848 it was the seat of ecclesiastical authority, housing the manorial office with a chief, a treasurer, a clerk and two scribes. Canon and prelates rented it for summer stays until 1918.

The castle stands on a slight rise above the north side of the village square, by the bank of the Tršice pond, about ten kilometres east of Olomouc. The municipal office, wedding hall, library and small village museum occupy the building, so visits depend on their opening hours. The courtyard is entered from the south through an arched gateway over a bridge across the partly filled former moat.

In the cellar of the former administrative building, a round hunger dungeon about seven metres deep is partly cut into the rock, with two vaulted prison cells above it and a Gothic entrance portal. The founding charters of the medieval fortress burned in 1642 during the Thirty Years' War, so its origin is unknown.