Merklín, Classicist château in Merklín u Přeštic, Czech Republic

Merklín is a one-storey château built around an inner courtyard, with arcades along three sides of the yard and two balconies on the entrance façade. A high tower once stood here but was demolished, probably during the 19th-century rebuilding. The arcaded corridor and the passage into the courtyard have barrel vaults with lunettes, and a pillar gate topped with rococo vases leads inside.

A fortress stood on the site by 1497, seat of the Merklínský family founded by Michal, a burgher from Stříbro. Imperial troops occupied it after the Battle of White Mountain, and a Mansfeld unit plundered it in 1621. Baron Jakub Filip Berchtold had the fortress demolished and built a Baroque château in 1670; Jan Karel Krakovský z Kolovrat gave it its Neoclassical form in 1824–1825.

The village of Merklín takes its name from the Merklínský family of Merklín, founded by Michal, a burgher from Stříbro who bought the market town around 1431 and adopted a coat of arms with a branch bearing two leaves. The family's fortress stood on the site of today's château until the Berchtolds replaced it in 1670.

The château stands in the centre of Merklín, in the Plzeň-jih district, and now houses the municipal office. A pillared gate with rococo vases leads into the walled grounds, which include a granary and a park. The arcaded courtyard and the vaulted passage are the parts a visitor can see from the grounds.

The tall tower that once rose above the château was demolished, most likely during the nineteenth-century rebuilding, so the four wings now close around an inner courtyard. Two balconies mark the entrance front, and arcades run along three sides of the yard.