Opočno Castle

Opočno is one of the oldest settlements in East Bohemia and the first mention of it dates back to 1068 in the Chronicle of Kosmas. Initially, there was a fortress on the trade route to Poland, then a guarded Gothic castle, but Opočno's most famous period was during the reign of the important noble family of Trčků of Lípa. Vilém Trčka of Lípa, influenced by the Italian Renaissance, began the construction of a magnificent Renaissance complex in 1560 and gave Opočno its present-day face - its arcades. The complex gradually grew and was supplemented with a Renaissance summer palace and a ballroom, and the local church was also modified. During the Thirty Years' War, the Trčků family from Lípa died out and their property was confiscated by the Emperor, who sold it to his Field Marshal Rudolf Colloredo. The originally Italian Colloredo family, later Colloredo-Mannsfeld, owned the Opočno chateau for the next 300 years and carried out further alterations to the chateau. During their reign, an English park with valuable trees, waterfalls, pavilions and a palm greenhouse was created under the castle. The last modifications were made in the early 20th century, when the castle became a comfortable family residence, where one could go hunting in the adjacent game preserve or for nature in the extensive English park. At the end of the 19th century, the Colloredo-Mannsfeld family decided to accumulate the collections of this noble family in Opočno and created a unique collection of Italian and Neapolitan Baroque paintings, an armoury containing more than 2,500 firearms and large collections of African natives and North American Indians. All of this can be seen today in two guided tours.