A visit to Lysá nad Labem and a walk around the chateau park: 4 km

• The town of Lysá nad Labem, situated around 40 km to the northeast of Prague, has an unusually long and rich history, including a very significant role during WWII (see the wiki link for more information). It appears that Lysá was founded during the early medieval Slavic period, while in the Middle Ages the town and fortress became associated with a number of Czech queens. During the reign of Charles IV in the 14th century an Augustinian monastery was established in the town.
• Both the castle and monastery were severely damaged in the 15th century Hussite Wars, but in the 16th century, the estate was acquired by Emperor Ferdinand I, who made Lysá one of his hunting centers. However, it was not until the 17th century that Lysá fully reestablished its prominence, under the ownership of the Špork family, who rebuilt the monastery and castle in Baroque style. An English Park and a French garden were established in the grounds of the new chateau, decorated with sculptures by prominent Baroque artists, including Matthias Braun.
• The chateau today is used as a home for the elderly, but the park is fully accessible. The park may not have the same grandeur as in its 18th century heyday, but it still has a lot of charm and is definitely worth strolling around. The town has other Baroque monuments and the whole area can be explored in less than an hour. Note that if travelling by train, the park entrance is just over 1 km away from the station.
• The route shown in the map below can be managed with a stroller. The chateau is on a small hill, 50m above the rest of the town. For refreshments, there are a couple of pleasant café-bistros in town, of which the excellent Maka Coffee (map point 6) is probably the nicest.

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 at the train station, join the RED trail heading into the town center
• There are two entry points to the park area – one at the end of Zámecká street, where the chateau is located, and one along Komenského street
• Use one entrance for entry and the other for exiting the path. If the gate is open, take a moment to visit the terrace in front of the monastery, which has a pleasant garden area, including a vineyard with information boards
• It is worthwhile exploring the main English park area – there are information abouts about the nature. Take a loop on the outer park and then head back towards the chateau to visit the French gardens with their statues
• Exit the gardens at the far end on to Komensého street and then turn right to return back to the main street (and the RED hiking trail)