New tourist season opening

New guided tour

• Castle and Chateau Frýdlant

From this year, the very long main tour will be divided into two separate tours - Frýdlant Castle and Frýdlant Chateau. The new tour Weapons, Armour and Knights will offer visitors weekend guided tours of the castle armoury and the opportunity to visit the castle tower. From the beginning of the season, the previously closed courtyard also will be opened to the public.

• Bítov Castle

From 1 July 2022, visitors can look forward to two newly restored rooms on the Castle Brewery Exposition tour. The rooms of the brewer's flat and wage workers will be equipped with period furniture and panels describing the function of these rooms.

• Opočno Chateau

Before Easter, the 2^nd floor of the chateau will be opened to the public for the first time, with a new, i.e. second tour circuit. The 1^st floor of the chateau has also been reinstalled, presenting the heritage of individual members of the Colloredo-Mannsfeld family.

• Uherčice Chateau

At the beginning of April 2022, a new tour will open its doors at the state chateau in Uherčice. During the restoration works of this monument, part of the interiors, structurally adapted during the first half of the 19^th century, when the chateau was owned by the important Enlightenment personality and art collector Prince Odoardo Collalto et San Salvatore, have been restored . Visitors will be able to see the private spaces, including the renovated banquet hall, for the first time since the castle was opened to the public in the 1990s.

• Konopiště Castle

New for this year are evening tours of the Nobleman's Entertainments and Festivities. The tours present how the aristocracy spent their leisure time in the most interesting rooms of the castle, including those that are normally inaccessible to the public.

• Sázava Monastery

From June 2022, the Sázava Monastery will undergo restoration concerning the Neo-Renaissance tower and the Gothic cellar. In April, the monastery administration has prepared special tours focusing on these places prior to the renovation, with demonstrations of what the renovations will change.

• Náměšt' nad Oslavou Castle

A new feature of the season at Náměšť nad Oslavou Chateau will be the extension of the Royal and Children's Apartment tour to include the former Billiard room. The sightseeing tour of the Representative Rooms is complemented by an attractive exhibition Stories written with wool and silk. Visitors will learn about the methods of dyeing wool and silk, the principles of weaving looms and, with the help of illustrative haptic models, will get to know the entire process of creating a tapestry from the initial design to the final product.

For children

Bezděz Castle has prepared an original interactive game for the youngest visitors. A new children's tour will be available at the Litomyšl Chateau, and Grabštejn Castle will also introduce a new concept.

Renovations and reconstructed objects

• Valtice Chateau

By the end of 2022, a project aimed at garden centre revitalisation, removing access barriers, increasing security, garden restoration and building social facilities for visitors and staff will be completed. Improvements to the facilities will allow the opening hours to be extended by one month - from early May to mid-October.

• Šternberk Castle

In November 2021, the restoration of some parts of the castle was completed. In the new season, visitors can look forward to the newly opened unique building of the Ice House, a technically important and neglected monument. Furthermore, the park's road network, in some cases missing or unusable, has been completed. The original building called the Greenhouse has been restored and will be used as a place of rest and relaxation.

• Valeč Chateau

Last year, in the chateau park in Valeč, Carlsbad, research and construction work began on the restoration of the theatron, which formerly served as an amphitheatre. The restoration of the theatron is taking place at the upper terrace, where construction work, restoration work on the sculptural decoration and archaeological research are underway. The research has already greatly enriched the knowledge of the building development of the baroque park. It has been discovered that the entire upper terrace of the theatron was artificially created and was not just a brick "facing" of the rock mass. The restoration and renovation work is expected to be completed in September 2022.

• Nebílovy Chateau

The reconstruction of the Baroque part of the chateau garden, including the restoration of the fountain, the new gazebo and the restoration of the Baroque fence walls, take place throughout the year.

• Kladruby Monastery

At the end of the year, the Kladruby Monastery building renovation project will be completed. It will include the rehabilitation of the interiors of the new and old convent, the construction of the monastery garden in the paradise courtyard and the extension of the guided tours to include the newly accessible interiors. The construction work will be completed by about the middle of the year, after which the installation of the furnishings for the new tours will begin. The restoration of the historical furnishings and the production of copies is currently underway.

• Červené Poříčí Chateau

At the beginning of 2022, the three-year restoration of the main building of the forecourt in Červené Poříčí was completed. The extensive renovation included the facades, the entrance passage, the interiors of the eastern part of the forecourt, as well as a third of the fence of the entire area, which has regained its original form, including the entrance gates to the castle gardens.

• Hluboká Chateau

At Hluboká Chateau, the water system project will go on. Last year, the waterworks and its technology were restored, and this year's phase of the project includes the construction of an irrigation system in the upper and lower castle gardens, the restoration of the facade and wooden elements of the historic waterworks, the de-watering of the pond and the strengthening of its banks.

• Jezeří Chateau

Renovation of the theatre hall continues at Jezeří Chateau. It is a classical concert hall where Beethoven's third symphony Eroica was performed as early as 1804. As part of the restoration, the original artistic and craft elements are being professionally restored on site or in restoration workshops. Missing details are sensitively added (e.g. stucco decoration or balcony railings). The estimated completion of the reconstruction and restoration is planned for July 2022.

• Karlštejn Castle

The eastern part of the Purkrabství, where a modern visitor centre will be based, is the subject of a building restoration called Karlštejn Castle - the Jewel of the Czech Land, which began in March 2020. In the basement, a new exhibition dedicated to the origins and past restorations of the castle will take place, as well as an exhibition on the history of winemaking in Karlštejn. Under the courtyard, in the newly discovered spaces, there will be another exhibition dedicated to stone elements. The kitchen gardens will be restored and new sanitary facilities will be built on Zwinger walls. The basement of the Imperial Palace will also be restored, where a multifunctional hall with facilities will be created and new permanent exhibition of carpentry elements will be installed there. The technical facilities and part of the castle's utilities also will be renovated. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.

In the Footsteps of Noble Families

The historical legacy of the most important noble families is presented to the general public by the prestigious project In the Footsteps of Noble Families. The theme of the 12^th edition is the Year of Noble Festivities. It focuses on the phenomenon of noble celebrations and entertainments.

The whole theme will be summed up in a spectacular exhibition the Noble Festivities and Entertainments at Český Krumlov Chateau in the Chateau Gallery. The exhibition, including an accompanying programme for children, will be open in the first half of July 2022.