zámek Zlonice Chateau

The castle Zlonice is located in the town of the same name in the district of Kladno. It is a building that was created as a royal castle and was later converted into a Renaissance castle. Subsequently, the building was authorized for apartments and offices. Since 1978 it has been protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic.

The first written mention of the Zlonik castle dates back to 1352, when it was probably royal property and remained in the royal hands until Hussite wars. In 1420, King Zikmund stopped him from the masters of Žerotín. Other owners are Albrecht Šlik from Holíč, who sold the castle to Ondrej Tatka from Kuří in 1535. Ondrej's daughter Anna, married to Václav Valkoun of Adlar, inherited the property and just Václav had the old castle rebuilt into a Renaissance castle around 1560.

The Valkouns of Adlar had owned a castle for over a century. In 1601 he reached the age of Bohuchval Valkoun z Adlaru and immediately started extensive construction modifications. He later served as Chief of Staff of the Slan Region. During the state uprising, he took Fridrich Falski's side; After the Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Josef fined him 3,000 gold coins and changed the legal status of the property. His son Jan Jaroslav inherited the estate after the death of Bobochval in 1653. Václav Jan Vojtěch Valkoun became the last villain lord of the Valkouns, who in 1705 was promoted by Emperor Josef Zlonice to the city and who also held the position of Governor of the Slovak Region.

In 1707 he paid off the debts of the owner Václav Jan Vojtěch Count Norbert Leopold Libštejnský z Kolovrat and thus acquired the criminal estate. After his death in 1716 his second son Norbert Vincento inherited him, who sold him to Count Philip of Kinsky in 1721. The House of Kinský owned the castle as its mansion until 1758 when it was destroyed by fire. After the fire, the lock was adjusted to offices and apartments. In 1833 there were other building modifications in which the arcades were walled up and other elements of the Renaissance period died.

The building form of the castle bears traces of its long history. In the basement of the east and part of the north wing, the vaulted spaces with slot windows, which belonged to the four-space palace from the late Gothic period, were preserved. The building has a three-wing plan: the north and west wings are two storey, while the east wing has only one floor. The courtyard preserved the ground-floor pillars of the original arcades and the signs of Kinski from 1835. An interesting feature is the coat of arms of the Valkouns of Adlar with the year 1602, which attests to the extent of the construction modifications from the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The Zlonice Castle today as a protected cultural monument resembles the rich history of Czech countries and alternating owners from the ranks of high nobility. It represents a concrete example of the transformation of medieval castles in the Renaissance residence and then in the objects serving the new era. For the visitor it is a witness of the architectural development and history of Czech noble property.