CASTLE OF NÁMĚŠŤ NAD OSLAVOU (ZÁMEK)

The present castle, which dominates the town and sits majestically above this harmonious hilly landscape, was built on the site of a Gothic fort dating from the early 13th century. Of the latter, only a cylindrical defense tower remains. It owes its Renaissance appearance to the alterations made by the Žerotín family between 1565 and 1568. Other architectural elements were added later, especially Baroque ones, during the Haugwitz period. Admire the richly decorated vaults of the library, which houses 16,000 volumes, including a Czech treasure, the famous Kralice Bible. This is a Czech translation of the Old and New Testaments and the only one that was translated directly from Hebrew and not from Latin as in previous translations. For this reason, this Bible is considered to be the origin of modern Czech. It was written by Hussite Protestants in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It was printed in secret by the Moravian Brethren Union in the hamlet of Kralice nad Oslavou, just a few steps away. Another curiosity is the study of President Edvard Beneš, who, after the Nazi occupation in 1945, nationalized the castle as his summer residence. The castle was no longer owned by the Haugwitz family, and the second floor was extensively remodeled to accommodate the apartments and study of the president, who did not spend much time there.