zámek Osek Chateau

In the centre of the village Osek, four kilometres north of Rokycan, the Baroque chateau is protected as a cultural monument since 1964. The construction, which is now slowly undergoing repairs in private hands, speaks about the layers of времPreparation and the transformations through which it underwent the field of eastern Czech built territory.

The oldest mention of the mansion in Osek is connected to the year 1240 and unknown owner of Busilej, but the exact location of the mansion could not be determined. Written records of the fort have only appeared since 1379, when the farm was owned by Lipolt of the Temple. The fortress itself was probably created in the second half of the 14th century as a Gothic building. Its oldest part, preserved in the northeast corner of today's chateau, measures approximately 10 × 13 metres and distinguishes it from the rest of the building by stronger walls and two vaults. The historian Jiří Úlovka, however, draws attention to the first direct mention of the fort from 1572, which shows the ambiguities in the documentation.

In the second half of the 16th century, the original Gothic fortress was expanded and remodeled, gradually changing its shape. The most extensive change came at the end of the 17th century, when the chateau was converted into a Baroque chateau under Pribyslav Malovka from Chýnov. In 1681 Ferdinand Leopold Nostic bought the farm and chateau, which can be considered an important character in the conversion of the building. He had a three-story tower connected around 1689. The Nostic family owned the chateau until 1734 when she left it. Subsequently, the chateau became the property of Sternberski, later changed several times, and until 1920 it belonged to the Colloredo-Mansfelds. In 1935 buy the farm and chateau owner Jan Kozel.

The Baroque form of the chateau from around 1689 had a single-storey ground plan in the shape of the letter U. The south side surrounding the courtyard closed the wall with a gate with a richly-membered baroque shield. There was an open floor arcade corridor around the courtyard with cross vaults. Over time, however, the construction suffered from a fire, resulting in the demolition of part of the west wing. This opened the yard on this side and the lock took the current form of the letter L. On the west side of the building is the tower in which the former chapel is assumed.

After World War II, the chateau was nationalized and its original equipment taken to an unknown location. The interior was adapted to the needs of the local state farm, where it served as stables and storerooms, and part of the space was adapted to housing for employees. For years, the chateau stands in the middle of the former premises of the state farm, to the right of the road to Volchlu. Today the building is in private hands and gradually undergoes renewal. Despite decades of intense restaurants, zámek Osek remains a testament to the continuity of Czech nobility and to the transformation of architectural taste from goth to renaissance to Baroque.