Kvasiny - Chateau

Chateau Kvasiny was founded as a late Renaissance fortified manor house and can be found 7 km north of Rychnov nad Kněžnou. It has been a protected monument since 1958 and has been listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic since 1964.

The original Kvasiny manor house was probably built sometime after 1608 by Bedřích the younger Vlkanovský of Vlkanov. However, the manor is not explicitly mentioned until 1623, when his property was confiscated after the Battle of the White Mountain. In 1653 the manor house was acquired by the Order of the Discalced Carmelites from the Monastery of Our Lady Victorious in Prague and they first rebuilt the fortified manor into a one-storey Baroque chateau (today's north wing). Later, when the demands on the administration of the estate increased, the chateau was enlarged by another two one-storey castle wings. Apartments for officials were located in the chateau, as well as the estate manager‘s office and flats for the members of the Prague order. In addition to the usual farm buildings and spas there was also a brewery. The core of the current park situated to the west of the chateau was probably established in the second half of the 18th century.

After 1786 when the Order of the Carmelites was abolished by Emperor Joseph II the administration of the estate was taken over by the Religious Fund, which did not, however, look after the chateau. In 1824 Antonín Slivka ze Slivic bought the estate and together with his sister Anna started the alterations and the reconstruction of the chateau in the spirit of late Classicism. A low second floor with a wooden turret was added to the main building and a half-storey attic was built above the east and south wings. In 1874 under the new owner, Josef Huppmann de Valbela, a pseudo-style one-storey building with the so-called hunting hall was added to the northwest corner of the north wing. Other modifications, especially of the interiors, were made in the spirit of late historicism around the year 1900 by Vilém Königswarter.

In 1928 the inventor and entrepreneur Ing. František Karel Janeček chose the chateau in Kvasiny as his family seat. He spent the period of World War II in Great Britain, after the war he did not return to his homeland permanently and lived in Canada during the Communist era. In 1948 the chateau was nationalized and first converted into accommodation for the employees of the Kvasiny car factory, later an Institute of Social Care for the Youth was located there. The establishment of a retirement home was also planned.

After 1992 the neglected chateau was returned in the restitutions to the son of Ing. František Karel Janeček - Ing. Karel Janeček. He then donated the chateau to his daughter (and the granddaughter of Ing. František Karel Janeček) Mrs. Soňa Klímová, who is gradually repairing the chateau. In 2012 she created a very interesting gallery and concert hall in the chateau. The main wing now functions as an exhibition space and by prior arrangement you can visit the chapel of Saint Anthony of Padua and the Hunting hall. The chateau hosts concerts, exhibitions and other social events. A nine-hectare English landscape garden also belongs to the chateau.