Czech castles and historic sites: 28 places to visit

The Liechtensteins' Neo-Gothic summer residence at the heart of the Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape (UNESCO), one of the largest designed landscapes in Europe. Its park hides a minaret over 60 m tall.

A memorial on Pratzen Heights to the fallen of the 1805 Battle of Austerlitz, the Battle of the Three Emperors.

Mies van der Rohe's functionalist masterpiece in Brno, completed in 1930, with an onyx wall and windows that sink into the floor. Book tours well in advance.

A 13th-century royal castle later turned into a feared Habsburg prison; visitors can walk through the casemates.

A Gothic castle on a rock spur that was never conquered and has kept its medieval look.

Founded by Charles IV in 1348 to guard the imperial regalia and holy relics. The Chapel of the Holy Cross is inlaid with semi-precious stones and 129 panel paintings.

A cathedral-scale Gothic church funded by silver miners and begun in 1388. Silver once made Kutná Hora the second town of the kingdom (UNESCO).

A small chapel decorated with the bones of some 40,000 people, arranged into a chandelier and a coat of arms by woodcarver František Rint in 1870.

The village razed by the Nazis in June 1942 in revenge for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. The memorial includes a bronze sculpture of 82 children.

The country's second-largest castle complex, above a bend of the Vltava; its Baroque theatre keeps its original stage machinery. UNESCO since 1992.

A South Bohemian village of Rural Baroque farmhouses around a green, preserved almost unchanged from the 19th century. UNESCO since 1998.

Rebuilt by the Schwarzenbergs in the 19th century in the style of Windsor Castle, with lavish interiors and an English park.

Founded by the radical Hussites in 1420 and named after the biblical Mount Tabor. Tunnels run beneath the old town.

Seat of Czech rulers for over a thousand years and today of the president, often cited as the largest ancient castle complex in the world. St. Vitus Cathedral guards the Crown Jewels.

Begun in 1357 under Charles IV, this Gothic bridge links the Old Town and Malá Strana. Thirty Baroque statues line its parapets.

The legendary seat of the first Czech princes on a rock above the Vltava. Its cemetery holds Dvořák, Smetana and Mucha.

A long Renaissance square lined with arcades and pastel gables, rebuilt after a fire in 1530. UNESCO since 1992.

Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel's star-shaped church, built from 1719, is designed around the number five, after the five stars of the saint's legend. UNESCO since 1994.

The only Jewish monument outside Israel listed by UNESCO in its own right, together with the Romanesque-Gothic Basilica of St. Procopius.

A 35-metre Baroque column completed in 1754, the largest Baroque sculptural group in Central Europe. UNESCO since 2000.

A fairy-tale castle rebuilt around 1900 for the Teutonic Order and a favourite filming location.

An arcaded Renaissance chateau covered in more than 8,000 sgraffito 'bricks', no two alike. Composer Bedřich Smetana was born in its brewery.

One of the oldest stud farms in the world, breeding the ceremonial Kladruber horse since 1579. UNESCO since 2019.

A castle on a rock in a tight bend of the Ohře, once called the key to the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Two towers on volcanic basalt plugs, nicknamed Baba and Panna, the emblem of Bohemian Paradise.

A former coal mine and ironworks turned cultural district, with a viewpoint at the top of Blast Furnace No. 1.

An 18th-century fortress that the Nazis turned into a Gestapo prison, next to the Terezín ghetto. Today a memorial to the victims.

Residence of the Olomouc archbishops with the Flower Garden and Chateau Garden, all UNESCO-listed. The picture gallery holds Titian's Apollo and Marsyas.