Litomyšl Castle

Zámek Litomyšl was built on the location of an earlier castle between 1568 and 1581 by the Highest Chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia Vratislav II of Pernštejn, one of the most influential Czech politicians of the 16^th century and an important cultural benefactor. It was based on the examples of arcade castles in Moravia, representing a specific adaptation of the Italian Renaissance palace in the transalpine area. During the ages, the castle burnt down twice, the subsequent repairs affecting mostly its interior. It has been state property since 1945. In 1824, the famous Czech composer Bedřich Smetana was born in the apartment of the castle brewery. Smetana held several concerts in the castle. In his honour, one of the largest Czech classical music festivals – Smetana’s Litomyšl – has been held there since 1949.

On the outside, Litomyšl represents a stylistically pure Renaissance chateau, an enclosed building with four wings and a courtyard. On three sides, it is enclosed by a storeyed arcade gallery, the southern arcades untraditionally facing towards outside and making up a loggia, which gives the main, representational façade an appearance of lightness and airiness. The façades terminate in a lunette cornice, above which there is an attic gable. Almost the entire exterior of the chateau is covered with exceptionally expressive sgraffito decorations, the extent of which is unparalleled in Central Europe. They consist of more than 8 thousand so-called letter sgraffiti and numerous scenes from classical mythology and biblical history. In the 18^th century, the sgraffito decorations were covered by plaster and partly destroyed. They were restored during a complete reconstruction in 1970s and 80s, carried out by such notable Czech artists as Olbram Zoubek, Stanislav Podhrázský and Václav Boštík. In times when the communist regime did not allow them independent artistic activity, this work represented a rare opportunity for artistic expression. Although there is a time span of approximately four centuries between the original decorations and the new ones, because of the delicate restoration work and adherence to the original techniques, today it is a single and artistically valuable piece.

In contrast to the preserved exterior, the original interiors of the chateau have not been preserved and their decorations date from Baroque and Classicism. The most important of these is the Classicist theatre from 1797, which is one of a few in Europe to have been preserved in its original appearance and with original decorations.