Kinzvart Czech Republic. Kinzhvart castle in the Empire style. How much does this tour cost

Kynžvart Castle is one of the oldest in the Czech Republic. It was built on the site of an ancient fortress, which was erected in the 13th century. The citadel was built in the most dangerous place - the Slavkov forest, where robbers often hunted in those days.

Since 1681, the castle became the property of the wealthy Metternich family and did not change its owners until 1945.

The austere, solid castle was rebuilt in the classical style in 1820-1839 by order of the chancellor of the emperor himself, Mr. Metternich-Winneburg. This building was designed to emphasize the influence and weight of the prince over other nobles. The castle fully met the expectations of its owner. It is devoid of frivolous decor, in some ways even ascetic, strictly proportional and symmetrical.

The Mitternich family lost all their property, including this comfortable castle, which housed family treasures and collections of various objects, in 1945. Since then, the castle has been open to visitors. It houses a museum.

Visitors will be interested in visiting the cabinet, which contains items that belonged to famous people. There you can see Byron's pendant, Marie Antoinette's Bible and so on.

The castle is surrounded by a luxurious English-style park. The greenery of the lawns harmonizes well with the light facade and subdued colored tiles. In the park there are huge century-old trees, shade is also promised by romantic carved gazebos, the pond reflects the blue of the sky and serves as a place of residence for ducks.

There is a golf course in a secluded corner of the park.

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Kynžvart Castle is one of the best architectural monuments of the Czech Republic in the classicist style. The history of the castle dates back to the 13th century from an ancient guard fortress built by order of King Přemysl Otakar II to guard the trade route connecting the Czech Republic with Western Europe. The name Kinzhvart means “Royal Guard”.

However, over the next century, the castle gradually lost its importance; the deserted castle was chosen by vagabond knights who robbed caravans and neighboring villages. Therefore, in 1348, by order of King Charles IV, the castle was burned. But on July 1, 1398, the son of Charles IV, Wenceslas IV, ordered the restoration of the Kynžvart estate. After changing many owners, the fortress passed into the hands of the Zedwitz family. And in its place a castle in the Renaissance style appears. In 1818, after the Battle of White Mountain, the Kynžvart estate was acquired by representatives of the old Czech family of Metternich. During the years 1820-1839, under the leadership of the architect of Italian origin Pietro Nobile, it was reconstructed in the style of Viennese classicism.

In 1945, the estate and castle Kynžvart became state property. One of the last owners, the Chancellor of the Austrian Empire. Client Metternich was an avid collector and collected a large library in the castle, numbering 6,000 volumes, a unique collection of weapons, coins, medals and other art objects. Among them is a porphyrite vase donated by the Russian Emperor Alexander I. The Blue Cabinet contains personal belongings of Napoleon Bonaparte, donated by his wife Marie Louise of Austria. The eastern corridor is decorated with antiques from China, Japan and Persia.

Among the exhibits of the castle you can see unique historical objects: the desk of Alexandre Dumas the Elder, the mace of Jan Zizka, the gloves of the Mexican Emperor Maximilian, the prayer book of Marie Antoinette, the prototype of the hand grenade with which the assassination attempt was made on the Emperor of France Napoleon III. Even Egyptian mummies found their place in the castle rooms. These are wooden tombs, 3.5 and 2.5 thousand years old, given to the Metternich family by the Ottoman Viceroy of Egypt, Muhammad Ali.

Around the castle there is an English park with an area of ​​300 hectares, conducive to leisurely walks. The park contains valuable trees, ten ponds, romantic gazebos and pavilions, each of which has its own history.

The castle keeps many secrets and legends. One of them is the mysterious death at the age of 28 of Princess Pascalina Metternich, in whose memory a white marble cross rises on overgrown boulders at the end of the park.

I heard about the “all-Union” children's Czech health resort called Kynzvart on one of my visits to Karlovy Vary. Our guide praised this resort, telling how wonderfully they treat children who can be in the sanatorium, both with and without their parents. Since then, the name of the sanatorium has been etched in my memory, and I often came across it in the topics “Treatment in the Czech Republic.”

After numerous and lingering colds in children last winter, we decided upon arrival in Karlovy Vary to go to this sanatorium for treatment. The sanatorium website promised 6 (!) meals a day, rest and excursions, round-the-clock medical supervision (a nurse is constantly on duty in each building), procedures, a swimming pool, treatment of diseases not only of the respiratory system, but also of the digestive system (there is a mineral spring on the territory of the sanatorium water), and the presence of a washing machine and dryer in each building.

It sounded so tempting that the mentioned amount of 3.5 thousand euros for 5 weeks of stay did not bother us. They convinced me that it would be difficult for me to live alone with two children in Karlovy Vary, especially at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy. And there I would take a break from cooking and cleaning, take the children to treatments and walks. In our free time, we would do numerous homework assigned for the summer at our advanced school...

The sanatorium announced the date of arrival on June 9 and at the same time they informed us of the cost and duration of stay of 5 weeks (initially we planned 21 days).

A couple of days before this date, I started packing. Imagine what it’s like to pack everything for yourself and 2 children, wash and leave 2 apartments in proper condition, empty the refrigerator of perishable food for 5 weeks, etc.

There were 11 bags: 1) medicines; 2) separate nebulizer; 3) a backpack with textbooks; 4) a small backpack with toys; 5) bag with laptop; 6) a bag with chargers, hard drives and iPad; 7) backpack with rollers; 8) a cooler bag with cookies and yoghurt (don’t throw it away); 9) a case with fragile ampoules and shampoo bottles; 10) shoes (4 pairs for children, including flip-flops and 3 pairs for me); 11) and a large heavy suitcase with clothes for three, suitable for all weather conditions. If you find something you don't need, I'll cross it out and won't take it with me anymore :)

When all this was piled up at the doorstep, it was 6 am. I didn’t get enough sleep, naturally, I was all on my nerves about how to drag all this, firstly, down (we have 2 flights of walks to the elevator and 1 flight from the elevator to the street), and secondly, to the car, which is parked 5 blocks from Houses. We didn't have a parking card then. We stood at the door, distributing what light each of us would carry to the car, when fortunately the bell rang. The head doctor of the local sanatorium Lazne V, who acted as a mediator in our negotiations with Kinzvart, said that a letter had arrived saying that there were some problems at the sanatorium, and they were postponing our arrival by 2 weeks to June 24th.

Later I realized that if I had carried just one suitcase downstairs alone, my pregnancy could have been in jeopardy. That call came literally at the last minute!

There was no strength, either moral or physical, to unpack the suitcases. We lived like that for those 2 weeks, pulling things out as needed. But during this time we made a parking card, and our car was legally parked at the entrance.

On the eve of our arrival, the sanatorium called again the head physician of Lazne5 and through her asked us to arrive on Friday before 12 o’clock. For some reason, their letters to my email were returned to them with a note that my mailbox accepted them as spam. They didn’t write to the other emails I suggested and didn’t call me on the phone, although there was a Russian-speaking employee there. These are the difficulties of translation, as a result of which a lot of information was lost.

Upon arrival, we discovered that the room had been reserved for us not for 5 weeks, but for only 10 days. I asked to extend the stay to at least 21 days so that the children could receive a standard course of treatment. We were warned that in this case we would have to move to another building in 10 days. We had to agree; we were no strangers to packing things.

The cashier took us to a room on the 4th floor of the same building, where the reception office was located along such a steep spiral staircase.

I'll start with the room that I didn't like right away. A very cramped room with a shower and toilet and... carpet. And this is in a sanatorium where even walking dogs is prohibited due to allergies in young patients. And Stefan is allergic to dust. He is strictly prohibited from staying in a room with carpets or carpeting.

There was a table in the room, but it was very low, at the level of my knee, and there were no chairs. It turned out to be impossible for either Mark or Stefan to do his homework. Two 1.5-size beds were pushed into a niche so that access to them was only through the legs and crawling. Can you imagine what it was like for me to crawl back and forth with my stomach every 5 minutes at the first call of the children (“I pooped”, “my computer won’t turn on”, “I want to eat”...). Moreover, these turned out to be not full beds with at least some kind of mattress, but couches. My pelvic bones were still aching for three days after the sanatorium, and I slept very poorly there. He had to hold the shower with his hands, otherwise he would fall. And a bunch of other little things that spoiled the rest the entire time we were in the room.

On the one hand, I’m used to everything in this life. But for 3.5 thousand euros I expected something more comfortable and more hygienic. As it turned out later, we were not accommodated in a regular building, but in a guest building, where parents come to visit children undergoing treatment. But we made reservations almost a month in advance! I'm sure we could have picked something up during this time. Moreover, some local residents come to the sanatorium only on weekends or for a period of 7-10 days, the rotation is constant. Either the attitude towards Russians, or the difficulties of translation.

For a modest fee (I insisted), they kindly helped me drag a heavy suitcase to the 4th floor along that spiral staircase (I asked). The children and I carried the rest ourselves, going down and up several times. So, in any case, the norm for lowering and lifting weights for pregnant women that day was exceeded many times over. Of course, there was a noticeable tug in my stomach. But fortunately everything worked out. The rest of the time in the sanatorium, I had to climb these steep steps several times a day with some kind of burden in my hands: a backpack with rollers, bags with groceries, etc.

Lunch at 12 o'clock pleased me. Deliciously prepared, from good ingredients, large portions. The menu of hot dishes was clearly compiled taking into account children's priorities: if chicken, then soft and stewed, if cutlet, then in the form of pate.... But the number of hot dishes per day was only 2 (!), and not 6, as it was stated. And on Wednesday and Sunday, food (I mean hot food, not dry rations with bread) was generally one-time only - lunch only!

We found out about this at dinner at 5 p.m., when we were given packed rations for the evening: A LOT of rye bread and butter and a couple of apples. In the evening, the children refused to eat bread with cumin and asked to eat it after 7 pm. It's good that we had it with us. Cereal and milk from home saved us. But the fact itself made me think about what I will feed my children tomorrow.

At 17:00 I began to look for the promised doctor to prescribe procedures for Saturday. Maybe they told me the name of the building where he would be waiting for us. But, as a newcomer, I quickly got confused in numerous buildings: our building, the building with procedures, the dining room building, the building with a swimming pool, residential buildings... And there was no one to ask. My children and I ran around all these buildings up a steep hill several times in search of a doctor, until the kind woman from the pool called all the buildings and found us a doctor on duty.

The doctor wrote out the procedures only for Saturday, saying that on Monday at 9 am the head physician will be there, who will fully familiarize himself with the medical history and prescribe a more complete course. Having learned that Stefan had attacks of laryngitis with stenosis, she gave us an ampoule of adrenaline (we don’t use it to treat attacks) and a hormonal prednisone suppository, which replaced an injection. She also provided the nurse’s internal phone number for emergencies, since there were no nurses in our building (!).

We must pay tribute, all the sanatorium staff from doctors, nurses during procedures, cooks and other sanatorium workers were very friendly and welcoming. Nowhere else in the Czech Republic have I seen such a concentration of warmth and kindness from local residents per unit area.

Among the inconsistencies of what was promised was mineral water. The source is paid.

You throw a coin into the machine, the water flows. But there was water delivery for the patients of the sanatorium. I was vaguely told that there is some kind of abstract machine, by stopping it on the road (yeah, seeing it through the window and quickly running away from the 4th floor, probably) and handing over your container (empty plastic bottles) you can get water. How and when it will be delivered to me if we are not there and the front door is locked, they could not explain to me. Only somewhere they found water in a used bottle with a slight taste of lemonade. It feels like they haven’t worked out anything, although the sanatorium is already 100 years old, judging by the architecture of the buildings. We also counted on hydrotherapy for the children, paying for such an expensive stay in the sanatorium.

The next photo shows the building in which we lived. Our 2 windows are on the top floor.

Behind the fence, right under the windows, there is a mini-playground with a rusty slide and a puddle under it. But I couldn’t even let the children go to this area under the windows alone, because a) the territory of the sanatorium is not fenced and strangers constantly walk through it to the source; b) a step from the front door there is a regular highway, on which cars, due to the climb up a steep mountain, press on the gas so much that they whiz by! They start playing, step to the side and the child is gone. The fidgetiness and unpredictability of 5 and 8 year old children knows no bounds.

Because of this, the children had to be constantly escorted up and down even for the slightest trifle. This is despite the fact that in Karlovy Vary Mark himself goes to the nearest supermarket through several intersections. Who would have thought that a remote sanatorium in a quiet place is more dangerous in this regard than the city.

It was along this steep hill path that we had to go to the dining room, to treatments and to the playgrounds several times a day. Walking with a load may be more beneficial for someone, but not in my position in the middle of pregnancy and not in such volumes per day. Plus multiple ascents to the 4th floor, because the children always had to be accompanied to the room; they themselves could not open and close the door with a key. But they constantly forgot something, or only when we went down could we see that the clothes did not match the weather. The steepness of the slope can be more clearly assessed from the horizon in this photo. This is him, only in profile.

I had to kick the kids up and drag them up the hill for breakfast at half past seven in the morning. It was a pity, but what can you do, you need something hot! What a shock it was when I saw that the only hot item for breakfast was cocoa. In the photo, it is in a jug.

And the paper bags contained food No. 2 out of the promised 6. There was again a lot of bread and a couple of apples (another time, it seems, they gave 2 oranges). They did not spare bread and butter. They were in excess quantity all 6 times during the day. Try to bet that the promised 6 meals a day did not happen.

I was shocked. It’s been a year since we cured gastritis for children. Looking ahead, I will say that upon returning from Kinzhvart, the children complained of stomach pain for 24 hours. And this is after a sanatorium where diseases of the digestive system are treated! I wonder how they correct the excess weight of small patients, as stated on the Internet? Instead of 10 pieces of bread they give 9?

From the assortment, to be precise, instead of Sunday dinner they gave pate (1 serving), again a lot of butter and bread, a couple of vacuum-packed hard cheeses, 3 yoghurts. Maybe I missed some other little things like jam, but still, this is not the hot food that children need. In addition, 2 times a week (Wednesday and Sunday) there was a hot dish only for lunch! And no compote or other drink, except cocoa for breakfast. During the day, our table in the room was piled high with bread and butter.

Then I realized that I could stay here only on one condition - to cook my own breakfasts and dinners. There was a kitchen with a refrigerator and an electric stove on the floor. But there were no dishes there.

This means that I would have to go to Karlovy Vary, bring a couple more trunks with a saucepan, plates, mugs, spoons... Plus I would have to go to the supermarket every day for groceries - there was very little free space in the refrigerator.

Very cramped conditions in every sense of the word. And this, I repeat, for 3.5 thousand euros. Then I realized that everything that was supposed to benefit the children’s health was harmful to them, including my belly. And the first thoughts appeared to go home to Karlovy Vary, where you can buy treatment much cheaper in Lazne5, which is a 5-minute walk from us on FLAT terrain, where there is an elevator and a supermarket around the corner, where there is a market with fresh fruits and vegetables (in Kynžvart children are a month old would be deprived of seasonal vitamins!)

On the night from Saturday to Sunday, Stefan opened up at night, froze and fell into bed. Well, it happens, just think, it’s a child. I took off the sheet and duvet cover and looked at the sink: I’ll wash it, but how can I dry it before evening? Then we crawled around the entire basement in search of the promised laundry room, but all the doors were locked. Later it turned out that there was a laundry. But the key to it is at the reception, which is closed on Saturday and Sunday. An elderly man coming down the stairs helped us change the linen from the wardrobe maid in another building (it seems he is an employee of the sanatorium, maybe a watchman). He found out in which building to find a wardrobe maid and told us.

Now I will show a photo of the room itself, when it is clear what kind of mess and hanging sheets there are.

But all this is nothing compared to the fact that Stefan did have an allergic reaction (most likely to the same carpet, or to the dust that simply cannot be removed from under the beds stuck in the niche). On Monday morning he began to have an attack of laryngitis. This test is not for the faint of heart when a child begins to choke before your eyes. For an hour I tried to relieve the attack with inhalations of pulmicort. At 8 o’clock I realized that I couldn’t cope, the wheezing was growing, and then I called the nurse in the main building on the internal phone. I told her verbatim: “A 5-year-old child has an attack of laryngitis, inhalations do not help, help, please.” To which I was told that the doctor was not there right now, he would be there in an hour.

All. This was the last straw of my patience. I gave Stefan a prednisone suppository and continued inhalations with mineral water. It’s good that we brought a nebulizer and water with us from Karlovy Vary. But the nurse didn’t even know if we had them. She didn’t even send us for mineral inhalation in the treatment building to relieve the attack; their inhalers are more powerful than ours. Only at 9 o'clock the cough, if it did not stop, then softened and decreased. We were able to go out for breakfast. It's good that our food wasn't taken away. She stood there for an hour. The cocoa was cold, but I didn't care anymore. The decision to leave was made, the main things were packed. After the cafeteria, we went to the doctor, informed about our decision and spent a whole hour in the office waiting for an unnecessary certificate. And I was counting the seconds, because the child was on hormones, and I still needed time before the next attack to load things, pay at the register and take the child with laryngitis 50 km to Karlovy Vary.

We're home now. We are treating Stefan’s cough, so far no change. We go for inhalations and to the salt cave in Lazne5. The children are sleeping and eating. Except that Mark and I caught the virus. He and I have a terrible runny nose, which in turn provokes a cough. Today I noticed that Stefan also had a runny nose. Today I could barely crawl at all. The temperature is a nasty 37.1. But it is necessary to cook, clean, wash dishes and take children to procedures. So I have to do all this through “I can’t.” They say we went to a sanatorium for treatment. By the way, in the treatment building in Kinzhvart there were children with coughs and runny noses. I think this is a gift from there, and not a cold, but a virus. Because all three of them got sick.

Among the procedures in Kinzhvart, the children only received hydromassage, mineral water inhalation and a light chest massage on Saturday. I will say again that the staff showed themselves only on the positive side and were very friendly towards us and all the patients.

For these 3 days I paid approximately 200 euros (4800 CZK). In general, this sanatorium is very popular among Czechs. The thing is that they don't pay for it. They are provided with travel insurance. And, as a rule, they are insured by the company where they work. We happened to see families there that were clearly of very low income. They were happy to relax there for more than a month without any expenses on their part. I even admit that a mother with a child from Russia suffering from bronchopulmonary diseases will benefit from treatment and stay at the Kinzhvart sanatorium. You just need to take everything into account and stock up on everything you need. We have an alternative - Karlovy Vary with treatment in Lazne 5.

Maybe we were just unlucky, we were placed in the wrong place, sent to the wrong place to eat, etc. But there is no desire to double-check and go there again. I wish I could recover quickly from this trip. I myself started having asthma attacks, for the second time in my life. This is how my trip to the Kinzhvart children's sanatorium came back to haunt me.

As a postscript, I will say that fortunately, all the listed difficulties did not affect the pregnancy. In September we had a healthy baby J

Lazne-Kinzvart is one of the cities of northwestern Bohemia, part of the famous “triangle” of Czech resorts: Karlovy Vary, Marianske Lazne, Frantiskovy Lazne. Due to its unique geographical location, the city is a famous children's health resort that has existed for almost 200 years.

Lazne-Kinzvart as a resort

Located on the very edge of the famous relict Slavkov forest (coniferous and mixed), on the slopes of the Tatra Mountains (altitude 670 meters above sea level), limited by a peat bog, the resort town has long attracted attention for its climate and healing springs. In 1822, the family of the famous Chancellor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Metternich, who owned an estate in these parts, founded a resort, although the town of Kynzvart has been known since the 10th century.

The attention of the head of the family was drawn to the sources of mineral waters, which are still actively used today in the treatment of diseases of the respiratory tract and urinary system.

Until 1950, it was a resort for everyone, mainly for adults, but after the whooping cough epidemic that affected many children in the country, the resort was completely refurbished for the spa treatment of preschool and school-age children.

The Lazne-Kinzvarta sanatorium has all the conditions for children's health: mineral springs, fitness, excellent equipment, sauna. During school hours, there is a school at the sanatorium, and you can receive treatment and study at the same time. If the child is small, he can take a health treatment course with his parents.

Today it is a resort of world significance.

Natural monuments

The uniqueness of Lazne-Kinzvart is not only in its sources. It is a city that has many attractions, both natural and historical. In this sense, the city happily combines a place with history and natural wealth, a beautiful landscape and an example of the development of the Czech Republic as a state.

Not far from the city there are several natural monuments.

First of all, it is the relict Slavkov forest, which has the shape of a triangle. This is a mixed forest, partly coniferous. There are many birds here, and plants that are characteristic only of this area grow. This is a state protected nature reserve.

In the Slavkov Forest there is a peat bog along which a hiking trail has been laid. The swamp has unique plants: swamp pine, sundew, protected by the state. But the most amazing thing that will capture the imagination of tourists is natural gas and small geysers that suddenly begin to throw out streams of mud. The spectacle is impressive.

In the Slavkov Forest there is a teardrop-shaped boulder with a flat top. It is granite, 6 meters high. Tourists always approach the stone.

The Shepherd Beech, growing on the plain at an altitude of 800 meters, also attracts attention. The first written mention of it occurs in 1785, and already at that time it was a huge tree, so its age is much older. The girth of the beech is 588 cm, its height is 22 meters, and the crown spreads out over 21 meters! A powerful, beautiful tree remembers more than one historical event that happened in its lifetime.

Another very interesting natural and historical monument is a canal built to float timber and supply water to tin mines in 1536. It stretches for 24 km, crosses the entire Slavkov forest, but is no longer used for its intended purpose.

And finally, you can complete your acquaintance with the natural monuments of Lazne-Kinžvart at the highest point of the surrounding mountains - Forest Mountain, at an altitude of about 1000 meters.

Historical monuments in Lazne-Kinzvart

The history of Lazne-Kinzvart is rich and varied. It is located very close to the border with Germany, and has constantly been the subject of territorial disputes between the German principalities and the Czech Republic. To protect the city, a castle-fortress was built in the 13th century, the ruins of which remain today, but still the plan of the fortress and its internal layout can be imagined. The townspeople themselves say: “The castle did not suffer from natural forces, stood the test of time, but did not survive human stupidity.” The fact is that the active destruction of the fortress began in the 19th century, when the castle stones began to be used in urban construction.

There was a military garrison in the fortress. In those days, the military were a little border guards, a little robbers, and now the castle is sometimes called a robber castle. Construction was probably started by Wenceslas II and completed by Ottokar II. The ruins of the castle tower and fortress walls have been preserved, with a perimeter of 151 meters. They rise on a steep cliff, and if you wish, you can imagine how a fortress garrison lived here in ancient times. The mortar used to fasten the masonry is interesting: it is red in color and has greater bonding strength and resistance to water. Built to last. In the fortress they find the remains of a tiled roof, also red. Even then, medieval builders thought not only about the power and strength of the defensive structure, but also about the beauty of the structure.

The second castle in the city belonged to the Metternich family. By the 70s of the twentieth century it fell into disrepair, but has now been restored and turned into a museum.
Clemens Metternich, the famous Chancellor of Austria-Hungary, a famous diplomat of the Napoleonic Wars era, loved to relax in the peace and quiet of Kinzwart (the city received the second part of its name when it became a resort). But it was not he who built the castle, but his ancestor, or rather, he received it as a reward for faithful service. In the 19th century, the castle was rebuilt in the neoclassical style, and today it delights guests and residents of the city with its austere and at the same time magnificent appearance. Built in the shape of the letter "U", low (only two floors), bright, it gives an idea of ​​the life of aristocrats in Austria-Hungary.

Even more interesting is a tour of the castle, where the chancellor’s original belongings have been preserved, for example, a traveling desk, a witness to the Congress of Vienna, where Metternich worked.

The castle has one of the best castle libraries, numbering 24 thousand volumes, including 130 rare manuscripts and publications. Archbishop Lothar Metternich of Trier began collecting the library, and after his death it was transported to the estate.

The second most interesting collection is numismatic, it was collected over the centuries. There are very rare coins here, such as ancient Roman and ancient Greek ones.

The interior of the premises in the castle can be seen on a guided tour, which costs 110 CZK, a discounted ticket costs 90 CZK. The estate is closed on Mondays, and during the winter months the museum is open by reservation.

Lazne-Kinžvart is a beautiful and original city that always welcomes guests with cordiality and hospitality.