Malé Versailles Other

Welcome, distinguished visitors. Please stop for a moment, take a deep breath and just look at the building facing you. You are standing in front of a place that many know under the name Malé Versailles. It's a building with an extraordinary story that begins much more humbly than the name of today. The first impression of this place may be an impression of peace and elegance, but if you look closely, you will see in this architecture the layers of time that tell about the rebirth of the entire city.

Let us now return together in time more than two walls of years back. Imagine Karlovy Vary in the year seven hundred and fifty-nine. The city was hit by a big fire at the time, leaving behind a burning hole and piles of debris. It is at this dramatic moment, when it was necessary to restore the city quickly and effectively, that something very practical arose at the place where you are now standing. It wasn't a palace, it was a brick. It was here that thousands of bricks were fired, which served as a basic building material for the new face of Karlovy Vary. So this building basically helped the city get out of the ashes again.

But time passes, and people's needs change. Around seven hundred and eighty, there was a fascinating transformation. The industrial space of the brick was no longer needed and the building was converted into a cruise inn. The place of hard work has become a place of rest and joy. The inn gradually turned into a popular social center, where spa guests were washing away to escape from the noisy city centre and find peace in the surrounding countryside.

Now please pay attention to the architecture itself that you see before you. Look at the bottom of the building. Note the walled ground floor, which looks stable and firm. It's a reminder of the original function of the building. Then, however, move your view above. Notice the first floor. The so-called "raked method of construction" is used here, which means that the construction consists of a wooden frame whose gaps are filled with other material. This combination of walled bottom and wooden structure at the top creates a very interesting visual contrast. The whole object bears elements of late classicism, which you can tell by a certain balance, purity of lines and moderation, which is typical of this style. The architects Michal Karas and Otto Kašparovský were working on this form to help the building get its present face.

When you look at the facade like that, try to imagine who was going through that door. Malé Versailles was not only an ordinary inn, but a meeting place for intellectuals, artists and prominent personalities of its time. The famous writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who was famous for his love of nature and for finding inspiration in the spa environment, was among the visitors. He also left his mark on Josef Habl. Imagine those nights when there was talk of philosophy, art, and health in the halls, while trees shouted behind the windows, and the noise of the river was heard in the distance. The atmosphere of this place was filled with the expectations and social life of the highest class of society at the time.

Now I want to take you to one of the most interesting parts of this story. Maybe you can think of a reason why the building is called Malé Versailles. The name sounds very noble and resembles the famous French palace, but the truth is much funnier. This name was created as a joke in the French Revolution. One of the guests, probably with a certain amount of irony and humor, compared this inn to Versailles, which, at that time, caused smiles and laughter. But this joke got so heated that the name remained until today and became part of the identity of the building.

If you move a little bit now and look towards the east side of the building, you can discover a real piece of history that has survived for centuries. That is where the original brick oven has been preserved. It's a fascinating detail that brings us back to the year of tyre seven hundred fifty-nine. While the rest of the building served as a luxury hotel and restaurant, this oven remained a silent witness to the time when dust and heat were flying through the air in the furnaces. It's an unexpected contrast between the industrial past and social fame.

The building was officially declared a cultural monument in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-one, confirming its irreplaceable value for the history of the entire region. It is a place where practical architecture meets human humor and social history.

If you look at the building today, you might notice there's a certain level of silence. In the year two thousand twenty-four the hotel was closed. The reason is the extensive reconstruction that aims to preserve this unique object for future generations. It's the transition period where the building prepares for its new chapter so that it can welcome guests again and tell its story.

Now imagine how the lights will light up again in the building, and how laughter and conversations will sound again in its premises, like during Goethe's visit. Malé Versailles reminds us that even from the simplest brick can arise a place with great history if people put their care and creativity into it.

Thank you for accompanying me on this short journey through time. Now, let's invite you to explore the surroundings in peace, to see the atmosphere of this place, and perhaps in your mind you've tried to guess what happened in these walls over the centuries. Go through the surrounding paths, feel the smell of the surrounding green and let yourself be carried away by the memories of the time this inn was the center of the spa world.

I wish you a pleasant continuation of your trip to Karlovy Vary and I hope the story of Little Versailles inspired you to further discover the secrets of this beautiful city. Goodbye.