Zámek Peruc Castle

The forerunner of today's castle was a fortress founded at the beginning of the 14th century by Jetrich of Peruce. The possession of the castle fortress remained in the hands of its descendants until the end of the 15th century. It was then gradually rented by various noble families: in the 16th century it was owned by the Five Pines of the Beautiful Court, later Krájka and then Lobkovice. Bedřech of Lobkovice, who was the heir, expanded his wealth throughout his life, but died in 1594 in a military campaign in Bratislava.

Some time before 1597, an old medieval fortress was converted into a Renaissance castle. In a given year it was purchased by Hanuš Hruška from Března, which in a few years extended the property considerably. After his death in 1610, which was caused by the overthrown chariot (Hanush was returning from Postoloprt), his sons sold the goods. In the middle of the 17th century, Jan Jetřich of Ledebur became the owner, with the surrounding municipalities as part of the purchase.

The descendants of Ledebura left the old, gradually decaying castle a superficial renewal. The Baroque reconstruction project was developed by Antonio della Porta, the builder was Pietro Paolo Columbani. The work took place in two stages - the first was completed in 1724, the second continued between 1760 and 1770, when the whole building was modified rococo. The House of Ledebura owned the castle until 1798, when Kaspar of Ledebur sold it to Prince Joseph Kinski. In 1814 Count František Antonín I. Thun-Hohenstein bought it from Kinský, whose family kept it until 1945.

The castle became famous for its visitors. In the 19th century he was visited repeatedly by historian František Palacký, who spent time with his friend František Danesh. Here also part of his childhood was experienced by the writer Svatopluk Čech, whose memorial room was opened in 1965 in the so-called blue lounge of the castle.

During World War II, the castle was used as a depository by Leipzig University Library; her collections were transported from Germany to the castle, then exported back in 1954. After the war, the northern wing was converted into a warehouse of cultural property - it was first used as a storage facility for hunting collections, later stored in the original collections of the National Museum. From 1947 to 1952, the southern wing was inhabited by the painter Emil Filla. After his death, a memorial hall was set up in the castle with his paintings.

Since 1989 the castle has become the property of the municipality Peruc, but due to the lack of funds for maintenance, the municipality sold it in 2007. The following owners did not save it - the buildings were lost and the estimated repair reached up to CZK 130 million at that time. In 2015 Dominika Matušová of Jičín bought the castle, which with architect Pavel Ondráček planned a project to revive the complex with fairy-tale elements. The project was not implemented due to the failure to obtain adjacent land with the park. In mid-2016 the owner closed the castle. The castle remains a cultural monument protected since 1964, as well as an adjacent park and a nearby neo-gothic Bozena well.