zámek Skalice Chateau

Castle Skalice stands in the village of the same name near Znojma. It is protected as a cultural monument and today houses a seniors' home in its premises.

A fortified manor probably stood on the site of today's castle. It was most likely founded in the first half of the sixteenth century by the first members of the Jankovský z Vlašimi family, who resided in Skalice. In sixteen twenty-four, the owner Jan z Lipé sold the village to the Bitov branch of the lords Jankovský z Vlašimi. The first records of the castle's existence appear in manorial accounts from sixteen thirty-three to sixteen fifty-seven. The location of Skalice was advantageous for the Jankovskys because the place lay not far from Brno, which the lords from Vlašimi travelled to very frequently. They therefore devoted great care to the building. Originally it was a one-storey four-cornered building with twenty-five rooms. Eighteen of them served the nobility and seven served the servants.

In seventeen thirty-six, the last male member of the family, Maximilian Ernest the Second z Vlašimi, died. The estate then became subject to disputes among related families. These were ended only in seventeen fifty-five by Empress Maria Theresa, who awarded the inheritance to the Daun family.

The castle acquired its present appearance between eighteen thirty-one and eighteen thirty-nine, when Count František Daun had it rebuilt. The castle then gained an Empire style appearance. The Count had the original chapel of Saint Vitus demolished and rebuilt it as part of the northern wing. Around the residence a castle park of three hectares was created. It contains a stone fountain with a sculpture of two dolphins from the second half of the eighteenth century. The dominant feature of the park is a mighty sycamore maple tree thirty-five metres tall.

The Daun family died out in the male line in nineteen hundred and four with the death of Count Otakar Daun. The castle was inherited by the Austrian family Haugwitz, who neglected it and only rented out the local estate. After the creation of Czechoslovakia, the last aristocratic owner became baron Heinrich Barrata von Dragono. He was not a good manager and due to financial difficulties lost almost everything. Only the castle remained to him, which was confiscated in nineteen forty-five. The furnishings were subsequently stolen and dismantled and nothing of it was preserved.

The castle with the park then belonged to the village until in nineteen fifty-four it passed to the Czech Catholic Charity. They established a home for elderly women here. From nineteen sixty it fell under the district's social department and was called Domov důchodců. From two thousand and three the Jihomoravský region is the founder and from two thousand and seven the facility bears the name Domov pro seniory Skalice. In two thousand and one an operational and residential building was added, at the end of two thousand and seven a kitchen block with a two-storey pavilion. During these alterations the castle itself underwent modernisation. Today it houses a home with a special regime.