Středočeský kraj Konopiště In the place of today’s castle used to be a French castell style fortifi ed structure. Konopiště was bought by the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand d’Este whose violent death ended up being one of the causes of the First World War. Franz Ferdinand chose the place as his family seat, hosted state visits here, organized magnifi cent hunts and gathered extensive rare collections. The former Baroque era orangerie hosted a St. George collection, there is a preserved authentic shooting range and above all a collection of historic weapons and armour. The Archduke founded the Rose Garden and greenhouses for rare exotic plants and continued in the tradition of keeping bears – today the castle is a home of a rare Asian black bear named Jiří. +420 317 721 366 konopiste@npu.cz www.zamek-konopiste.cz