Konopiste
Castle Tour
The tour will take about 4-5 hours and
cost around €30 ($37.50), including entrance fees, but not including lunch.
Konopiste Castle, one of the major
sights in Czech, is about a 45 minute drive from Prague. Built in the year 1300
as a Gothic Castle in French style, it was modified in the first half of the
16th century into a chateau. After 1889 it became the seat of Franz Ferdinand d´Este, the Habsburg Crown Prince, who had Konopiste
remodeled into its present form.
Konopiste gained historical
importance, when Franz Ferdinand – shortly before his departure to Sarajevo in
June 1914 - held a secret meeting there with the German Emperor Wilhelm, to
discuss the Bosnia case. Franz Ferdinand’s subsequent assassination in Sarajevo
led to the beginning of World War I.
Today the chateau is owned by the
Czech Government. The interior is richly decorated with furniture, paintings,
glassware and porcelain, as well as Ferdinand’s private items – mainly hunting
trophies. Franz Ferdinand could be called a more than passionate hunter. For
more information about Konopiste Castle, click on the links and pictures below.
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· http://www.frommers.com/destinations/prague/0063020752.html · http://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/Central_Europe/Czech_Republic/czech2.htm · http://www.zamek-konopiste.cz/msie/index.html |
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