Brandýs nad Labem - Castle

The town of Brandýs was founded sometime at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries by the Lords of Michalovice, who held both part of nearby Stará Boleslav and Boleslav Mlada. The first written mention of it dates back to 1304, when the market village of Brandýs with a bridge over the Elbe River and a church is mentioned. The local river crossing has been important since the early Middle Ages, as an important provincial route from Prague to the north passed through the area.

The owners of the estate built a fortress near the bridge in the place of the present castle.

In 1468-1483, the manor was held by Jan Tovačovský of Cimburk, who moved the administrative centre of the manor here and rebuilt the fortress into a more representative late Gothic-style residence for this purpose.

In 1547, the manor was forfeited to the Czech Royal Chamber for the owner's participation in the Estates Revolt. The manor and the town became royal property and an occasional country residence of the monarchs with a large castle preserve and surrounding rich hunting grounds.

At the time of the confiscation, the castle was being rebuilt under the direction of Matteo Borgorelli, which was continued by the will of Habsburg Ferdinand I. In 1548, new rooms, a council chamber and a chamber were completed. The construction of the arcaded wing was started according to the design of Paolo della Stella. In 1552 a fire broke out in the castle. The construction was completed shortly afterwards by Hans Tirol, the new chamber builder.

Further work began in 1563, when on 15 January, the construction of a new two-storey south wing, a new chapel and the addition of a storey to the older parts were agreed with Matteo Borgorelli. In 1563, a garden was established, connected to the castle by a covered passageway. Together with the older wings, this created an enclosed layout, probably completed in 1567, but no later than 1572, before the death of Master Matteo.

Rudolf II had the castle fitted out as his main residence outside Prague. The Rudolfinum period became the most famous chapter in the history of the castle grounds. Construction work between 1585 and 1590 included the north-west tower, the arcades and the summerhouse in the garden. The work at this time was led by the new chamber builder Ettore de Vaccani. By the time of his dismissal in 1602, the garden buildings of the summer palace and the ballroom had been built. The Renaissance reconstruction of the clock tower, the sgraffito decoration of the facade of the castle, the castle garden designed by the architect Giovanni Maria Filippi, which the emperor entered through a special covered passageway leading from the castle over the moat, were completed.

The Thirty Years' War devastated the castle and the garden. The garden was destroyed as early as 1639, and the castle was also damaged during the Thirty Years' War. In 1640, General Banner's Swedish army built a defensive system here, during which the terrain of the garden was greatly altered and the buildings were demolished. Only the late Renaissance terrace wall with its staircase, fountain and balustrade survives.

After the war, the castle complex was gradually rebuilt in the Baroque style with the participation of the court architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer and the architect František Maxmilián Kaňka. According to his project, the interior was renovated in 1722-1729 by bricking up the arcades.

Two years before the coronation of Charles VI in Prague in 1723, the adaptation of the castle and the imperial rooms began. In 1735-1740 the chateau underwent a top Baroque reconstruction, during which, among other things, the original two-tract layout of the second floor of the north wing was changed to a three-tract layout.

In 1736, the main tower of the chateau burnt down after a lightning strike, and its new Baroque appearance was designed by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer, who at that time was renovating the rooms of Empress Maria Theresa or built a new pineapple greenhouse.

The first complete plans of Brandýs Castle and the castle district also date from 1740, and probably also from Dientzenhofer's hand.

František Maxmilián Kaňka designed the modifications of the castle forecourt with a stone bridge over the castle moat.

By the decision of Emperor Joseph II, the Bohemian court chamber set up apartments for retired officers here by its decree of 21 April 1770, and this was not without partial structural modifications, e.g. the division of the original high ground-floor rooms in the south wing of the chateau by inserting new vaults, a number of modifications in the living rooms, and the modification of the chateau chapel in 1798.

The last significant historical reconstruction of the chateau took place in the 1880s in the spirit of historicism according to the project of the architect Bedřich Wachsmann. The clock tower was modified at this time. The Baroque dome gave way to a new Neo-Renaissance roof.

In 1918, the castle was expropriated by the Czechoslovak state and for a long time served the Institute for Forest Management.

The sgraffito decoration was partially restored in 1937-44.

The extensive grounds of the castle are situated in the eastern part of the town on a rocky terrace by the river. A four-winged castle with an irregular inner courtyard stands in the northern part of the grounds. It is situated at the edge of a terrace sloping steeply down to the river. Around the castle, fortifications in the form of ramparts and a moat have been partially preserved. A stone arched bridge spans the deep moat by the castle. A fountain has been preserved in the retaining stone wall of the rampart.

Around the castle there is a large park with the remains of a Renaissance garden formed by decorated terraces. A covered corridor ('Rudolfinka') runs from the NE corner of the chateau, bridging the moat and connecting the chateau with the garden.

The grounds are largely enclosed by a fence wall and open through three gates. Another gate is located inside the grounds, at the entrance to the former game-preserve.

In 1967, a reconstruction of the garden was carried out according to its original layout - an orchard (graft) to the right of the avenue, the left garden part towards the Rudolfinum. Overall, the garden has been reduced in size compared to its original dimensions. The original preserve adjacent to the garden has also disappeared. In 1984 the garden was reconstructed according to the design of A. Benes.

In 1995 the castle and the garden were taken over by the town of Brandýs nad Labem - Stará Boleslav, which is taking care of its reconstruction and tourist exhibition.