Tvrz Čelákovice Fortress

The fortress in Čelákovice in Prague-East district is one of the most preserved buildings of its kind in Central Bohemia. This Gothic-Renaissance object is situated on the edge of the Elbe shoulder near the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Since 1949, it serves as a seat of the Municipal Museum and is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The fort was built around 1300 in the place of the former Slavic chateau. Its creation falls within the period of the senior government of the last Přemyslíkovs and the accession of Luxembourg. In the Czech lands, in the blossom of Gothic culture, the noble mansions began to transform from wooden yards into stone forts.

The building consists of two adjacent buildings of a rectangular plan. The original Gothic part represents today's southern wing, which was reduced by one floor due to poor technical condition in 1730. At the end of the 15th century, the complex was expanded to include a northern storey tract and in the 16th century an economic building with a wall and gates was added. After insensitive modifications in the 19th century when windows were opened and expanded, reconstruction took place between 1973 and 1982. This monument was returned to the Renaissance form including a typical letter sgraffiti on the main building.

In the 14th century, the first known owners were nobilitated Prague patricians, namely Rokycanští z Okoře and Knights of Cy. After 1420 the fortress was acquired by Beneš z Vartenberka, who transferred her to his sister married to Alš Škopka from Dubé. In 1421, the building was burned down by Hussite troops. In the next decades, Bohuněk z Klinštejna, gentlemen from Michalovice and Tovacovský from Cimburk, were replaced among the holders. Since 1483, the Object was owned by Krajířová from Krajk until 1547, when Arnešt z Krajk was punished for participating in the state rebellion of confiscation property. Čelákovice then became a royal chamber town.

In the second half of the 16th century the imperial official Jan Habartický z Habartic bought the fort, which extended it and rebuilt it. The work was completed in 1578 and the name Hradištko or Hradek started to be used for the complex. During the Thirty Years' War, the memory was destroyed several times by the passages of imperial, Saxon and Swedish troops. Since 1593, the owners quickly took turns; These included Marie Magdaléna Trčková z Lípy, Alexander Jošt Haugvic from Biškouc, Henry Jan Varlejch from Bubna and Maximilian from Valdštejn. In 1665 the complex was purchased by the Royal Chamber and attached to the Brandy estate. In the 17th and 18th centuries, buildings served for economic purposes, including as an inn.

Today the premises are used by the City Museum in Čelákovice, which focuses on the region of Central Polabi. The most important exhibits include a gold earring from the primordial settlement in Toušen, considered the oldest proof of the use of gold in our territory from the late Stone Age, and a ceramic face mask from the Bronze Age found in Ostrov-Matches.

The Celakovická fortress represents a valuable proof of the development of a noble residence from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The visit offers a unique insight into the history of the region and the opportunity to explore rare archaeological findings directly in authentic areas of the historical monument.