Hradec Králové and Chateaux on the Orlice river Heritage Cities and Living History

www.ic-hk.cz Accessibility: 119 km from Prague

www.mojeorlickehory.cz/zamky-na-orlici by train from Prague 1 h 30 min by bus from Prague 1 h 40 min by car from Prague 1 h 15 min

Target group: Pleasure seekers: active seniors, families with children

Hradec Králové’s architecture is outstanding. The city is known as an “open-air textbook of architecture”. You will find all architectural styles here from Gothic to modern. Where architectural modernity is concerned, there is no other such comprehensive collection in the world. The river Orlice, which flows into the Elbe in Hradec Králové, is also known as the “Czech Loire”. The chain of chateaux and castles along its banks provide extraordinary experiences.

Hradec Králové The Salon of the Republic After the city fortifications were demolished in the late 19th century, Hradec Králové became a studio for elite Czech architects. Kotěra, Gočár, Sander, Liska, Sláma – these all contributed to a completely new urban planning concept found nowhere else and so visionary that it still meets the needs of the city’s inhabitants today. Over several decades, buildings appeared that can be seen today – with or without a guide - thanks to a circuit walk around “the Salon of the Republic” with information boards. The modernist architecture is completely alive. For example, the Museum of Eastern Bohemia, a work by Jan Kotěra, exhibits almost three million collected items in the fields of archaeology, natural science and history. The Gallery of Modern Art is housed in a late Art Nouveau building and owns a unique collection of 20th-century Czech modern art. Hradec is an extremely lively city. Adults and children alike will be tempted by a paddle steamer cruise, the Hradec Králové tourist train, a unique view from the White Tower, night tours with a surprise, an interactive puppet museum in the Dragon Theatre, a giant freshwater aquarium with an underwater tunnel and the Hučák Hydroelectric Power Station, a functioning Art Nouveau technical landmark. There are parades and festivals, such as the historical Celebrations of Queen Eliška of Hradec Králové or the Theatre of European Regions.

www.ic-hk.cz Hradec Králové region: www.hkregion.cz The Museum of Eastern Bohemia: www.muzeumhk.cz The Gallery of Modern Art: www.galeriehk.cz Walking routes "Salon of the Republic": www.hradeckralove.org/ii-prochazkovy-okruh-salon-republiky/d-50371

8

Destination Manual 2020 | Cultural Tourism

Kostelec nad Orlicí Accessibility: 147 km from Prague

by train from Prague 2 h 35 min by bus from Prague — by car from Prague 1 h 45 min

Target group: Pleasure seekers: active seniors, families with children

Chateaux on the Orlice river A French Phenomenon on a Czech River By boat, bike, car or on foot – there are many ways to reach the castles and chateaux along the river Orlice. Within just 10 kilometres you will see two castles and four chateaux offering extraordinary experiences. You can enjoy unusual tours – with themes or games, night tours, tactile tours for the blind, or with the personal accompaniment of the owners; you will be taken through the living history of the Czech nobility. Heading downstream, we start in Litice, at the medieval castle of King George of Poděbrady. In Potštejn we come across the ruins of a Gothic castle and just a short way along, a picturesque Baroque Chateau, where a colourful Baroque costume tour literally engulfs us, while children will be enchanted by two expositions designed mostly for them. In Doudleby nad Orlicí, we are welcomed by a Renaissance manor and surrounding park, with interior tours, farmers’ markets and Grandmother’s Courtyard with farm animals. Next is the New Chateau in Kostelec nad Orlicí, the precisely reconstructed Empire style seat of the Kinský family with an exhibition entitled Life in the Biedermeier Period, where you can play the role of an aristocrat for yourself, thanks in part to regular tours guided by František Kinský, the Chateau owner and town mayor. The last stop is Častolovice with a Renaissance, Gothic Revival converted Chateau with beautiful interiors, Renaissance coffered ceilings, and a mini-zoo and extensive English landscape garden with a game park, where white fallow deer and sika deer are bred. Add music and theatre festivals, Chateau cafés, concerts, etc. Breath-taking.

www.mojeorlickehory.cz/zamky-na-orlici Častolovice Chateau: www.zamek-castolovice.cz New Chateau in Kostelec nad Orlicí: www.zamekkostelecno.cz Doudleby nad Orlicí Chateau: www.zamek-doudleby.cz Potštejn Chateau: www.zamekpotstejn.cz Podštejn Castle: www.hrad-potstejn.cz Litice Castle: www.hrad-litice.cz