The Nové Hrady Château

The picturesque Empire château of Nové Hrady is situated on the eastern side of the square. The three-winged building served the Buquoy family of counts from 1806 to 1945.

Jan Nepomuk Buquoy built this impressive château with a park on the outskirts of town, with Theresa Buquoy completing the building in 1806. The first user of the castle, however, became the nephew of Jan Nepomuk, Jiří František August Buquoy, a scientist, inventor and entrepreneur. Further structural modifications were carried out in the mid-19th Century by Jiří Jan Jindřich Buquoy. He built the grand staircase on the side to the garden as well as the pavilions at the end of the side wings. On the ground floor there were kitchen facilities and rooms for the staff. The living rooms and the Counts’ rooms were on the first floor, while the second floor was intended for guests. The “Blue Lounge” was designed to commemorate a field tent from the time of the greatest military successes of their ancestors. Therefore, a blue and white striped canvas was used on the walls.

Currently, the château is owned by the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and houses the Center for Nanobiology and Structural Biology, (CNSB).

The campus in Nové Hrady was, meant to also serve as a scientific training facility from the very beginning, and organizes many conferences and symposia. The conference centre provides services for organizing various seminars, meetings, conferences and workshops. From the very beginning in 2001 from the outset of their operations, many successful events have been organized, attended not only by participants from the Czech Republic, but also by international guests.