Empire Castle Kačina - a representative residence opened into a shallow arch plan. ● 00:26 History of the castle 03:22 What is there to see at the castle? ▪▪▪►Support the channel by SUBSCRIBING to new videos: http://bit.ly/ParMinutHistory ▪▪▪►FACEBOOK: / par.minut.historie ▪▪▪►TWITTER: / pm_historie ● Next part of the Castles and Chateaux series: Loket Castle • Loket Castle - history and legends Pár... ● You might be interested in: Brief History of Europe • Brief History of Europe #PárMinutHistorie / #PMHistory / párminuthistorie Music: HELLCAT • HELLCAT - Piano and Violin No copyr... Ru / Ghost News / @ghostworldlive Desmeon / iamdesmeon RUBIK • RUBIK - Piano and Violin No copyrig... Ru / Ghost News / @ghostworldlive Electro-Light / maskedacoustic Distrion / distrion Kačina Castle - history and description Empire style Kačina Castle - a representative residence opened into a shallow arch. It is located less than 7 km from the center of Kutná Hora in beautiful nature. History of the castle The meadows "on Kačina" were not always just an empty place. From the first half of the 12th to the end of the 13th century, the village of Kačín was located here. In the words of historian Josef Ledro, named after the landscape rich in ponds and ducks. In March 1434, the Kačina meadows served as a gathering place for the troops of Menhart of Hradec, with whom he later conquered Prague. When Menhart himself defended Prague, he chose that place to summon the troops of George of Poděbrady in 1448. George also succeeded in the campaign and took the capital into his hands. At the end of the 15th century, the Kačinské meadows fell to the Kolín estate and were later annexed to the Nové Dvory estate. In 1679, Bernard Věžník of Věžník bought the place and brought it to great prosperity. However, other lords did not bring much happiness to the countryside until Count Jan Chotek of Chotkov and Vojnín bought Nové Dvory in 1764. After the childless Jan, his nephew Jan Rudolf Chotek inherited the estate. The highly educated Rudolf, who admired beautiful buildings during his travels in Italy, France and England, did not like the chateau in Nové Dvory. So he looked for a new place where he could build a more representative residence. He chose the Kačinské meadows with a view of Kutná Hora, Kolín and Čáslav. In 1789, the Count began construction of a 270-hectare natural park. 13 years later, the construction of the castle itself could begin according to the design of the Dresden architect Christian Franz Schuricht. In reality, however, construction did not begin until 1806. The military garrison from Kutná Hora also participated in the construction itself, which the count asked for help. At the beginning of the 20th century, the last male member of the Emerich Chotek family died. The castle was inherited by his nephew Quido Thun-Hohenstein, but he left it for financial reasons and lived out his life somewhere abroad. During World War II, Kačina was inhabited by the Hitler Youth and in May 1945 by the Soviet Army, which irreparably damaged most of the castle's Empire furnishings. What is there to see at the castle? There is a lot to see at the castle. For example, the main one-story building facing east with a Tuscan facade supported by six Ionic columns that carry a tympanum decorated with reliefs. The situation is similar on the west side. Both floors of the main building are crossed by a circular Entrance Hall lit from above by a glass dome. From here it is possible to enter the Dance Hall, Dining Room, Billiard and Music Salons or the private rooms of the Count's family. Adjacent to the main building are two side wings on the eastern side, facing the Court of Honour, each decorated with twenty Doric columns. Both wings contain rooms for guests and servants and are finished with one-storey pavilions. The northern pavilion houses a theatre and an unfinished chapel. The most interesting part, at least for me, is the library in the southern pavilion, built as a noble temple of learning. The rich collection of books contains 40,000 volumes from the fields of psychology, botany, mathematics, medicine, etc. The Chotkas kept here the twelve-volume Description of Egypt written during Napoleon's campaign in North Africa. Today, one of the three preserved collections in the world is kept in the vault of the National Museum in Prague. Among other things, the castle also houses an exhibition called the Museum of the Czech Countryside...More in the video.