Exploring the Konopiště chateau park – 2 km to 10 km walks
- Konopiště is one of the most recognizable castles in Bohemia, its four winged shape dominated by the tall fortified watchtower. Konopiště’s 13th century gothic origin – modelled on French fortresses of that time – has not been completely lost in its extensive Renaissance and Baroque reconstructions.
- The castle also has a unique history, which draws visitors from far and wide. Konopiště was the last residence of Habsburg Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand, who bought the chateau in 1887 and remodeled the style one final time, also creating the large English-style park and famous rose garden. Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914, leading to the outbreak of World War I.
- Many aristocratic owners preceded the Archduke, including the Šterberk, Hodějov, Vrtba, and Lobkovicz families. Even Albrecht of Valdštejn, a voracious collector of properties after the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, owned Konopiště for a short period. The castle also saw its fair share of war. It was subject to a two year siege by Jiři of Poděbrady in 1468 and was occupied and plundered by the invading Swedish army in 1648.
- Today, the interior of the chateau may be visited (on a paid tour) and the extensive park visited for free. If driving to Konopiště there are two paid car parks a short walk from the park. If travelling by public transport, Benešov main line train station is a 2.5 walk from the chateau – there are also (infrequent) buses from Benešov to the chateau entrance.
- Once at the park, there are a number of areas to potentially explore. The gardens immediately surrounding the chateau should not be missed, including the rose garden, where Franz Ferdinand and German Kaiser Wilhelm II discussed Balkan politics in June 1914, shortly before the Archduke’s ill-fated trip to Sarajevo. Loops around the mixed forest and meadow park as well as the large lake should also be considered.
- The suggested itinerary below explores these three areas in an 8km tour – starting at the car park – but shorter (or longer) routes can also be created. The 8km route below involves just 100m of height gained/lost and can be easily accomplished with a stroller. For refreshments, there is a pub actually within the chateau, a cafe in the rose garden and the restaurant Stará Myslivna with its popular terrace in the main route to/from the large car park (where there are also various refreshment options).
Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.
Directions
- Starting the walk at the large (paid) car park – which is also where the bus from Benešov stops – take the RED hiking trail for 400m, passing the Stará Myslivna restaurant, to reach the edge of the lake. If walking from Benešov train station follow the YELLOW hinking trail for 2.5km directly to the castle entrance
- From the lake take the rising path that leads to the west door of the chateau. Continue anticlockwise around the castle moat to reach the east (main) entrance. Jiři the brown bear should be waiting there in the castle moat
- After visiting the castle, descend on one of the paths to the garden area to the south east, where the rose garden is situated
- After touring the rose garden, take a stroll in the main park. The educational trail Pod Stromy (with green-white diagonal striped markings and occasional notice boards highlighting the different types of woodland) is a good flat option – 2.5 km long
- After a tour of the park, take a (2.7 km) loop around the lake – for the anticlockwise loop start on the YELLOW hiking trail , taking care to stay on the lakeside path when the YELLOW trail turns away from the lake. Return to the chateau area-car parks along the eastern side of the lake. This path is part of the Historie a příroda Konopišťského zámeckého parku educational trail
