Favorit Castle

Favorit, formerly called Mes idées, is a hunting lodge situated in the middle of a game reserve between Šindelová and Jindřichovice in the Krušné Mountains. It is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The game reserve is documented as far back as 1737 in an inventory of the Nostitz estate in Sokolov. It was particularly appreciated by Marie Elisabeth, born Kolovratová, the wife of František Antonín Nostitz. He had a Rococo lodge built here in 1769 and gave it to his wife. The first structural modifications took place around 1800. In 1820, a chapel is documented in the left wing.

At the end of the nineteenth century, Ervín Nostitz began construction of a new representative residence. In 1899, the original lodge was nearly demolished. Between 1904 and 1906, a similar lodge, though only in its basic outline, was built in its place. The plans were drawn up in the autumn of 1903 by Munich professor and architect Emanuel Seidl. The construction was carried out by the Sokolov company Christi and Rädler. In the following years, an adjacent building was reconstructed and a so-called foreign guest house was created, which adjoins one of the wings from the outside. A hunting lodge was added at the gate. The entire castle was completed in 1914.

The complex consists of six buildings. These are the castle itself, the manager's residence, a forester's lodge, accommodation for staff, a chapel, and a garage with a workshop. The castle has three wings that enclose a courtyard of honour. Adjacent to it, a pond was created.

Near the castle stands a Baroque chapel dedicated to Saint Teresa of Ávila, a Spanish Carmelite nun from the sixteenth century. The chapel has its present appearance from 1913. It is often mistakenly referred to as the chapel of Saint Hubert. This name originated during the period of normalization, when hunters used the building, and also because of a figure of Saint Hubert in a stained-glass window. The statue near the chapel does not represent Saint Hubert. Nearby stands a powerful stone cross from 1912. Ervín Nostitz had it erected in memory of his mother Teresia, born Thun-Hohensteinová.

In the complex there are also three allegorical sculptures by Jaroslav Plichta, a student of Myslbek and professor of the sculpture school in Hořice. Two in front of the main pavilion apparently represent Agriculture and Industry. The torso of the third, Woman with Child, is probably an allegory of motherhood. It is not known when the sculptures were created.

In 1945, the castle was confiscated from the Nostitz family. State forests operated a boarding school and apprentice school there. From 1953 until 1990, the castle served as a recreation centre for young people. It then passed into the ownership of the Bažajev family, Russian businessmen of Chechen origin. Since then it has been deteriorating and is inaccessible to the public.

Through the valley below the castle flows the Skřiváň stream. The path to Šindelová is lined by an avenue of memorial larches.