This was a day for sight-seeing! We took a tour of a more modern Czech castle (a “modern” castle, in this case, one built between 1839-1857, is called a “Zámek”). “Hradek u Nechanic” is in a new Tudor-Gothic design. There is a price for admission for the tour (in Czech), and an additional price for taking pictures. I was happy to oblige, and it was worth it.
Many of the “portal” doors, cabinets and altars were made locally, and also brought from Italy and Germany, a bordering nation with which the Czechs have a complex, closely intertwined, and sometimes difficult history.
I was fascinated to see that the castle’s chapel has a pipe organ.
This is quite a castle mansion to see, and it seems to offer very limited tourist access (Christmas and Easter).
Traditional Easter foods were displayed in table settings throughout the castle. There are many different kinds of bread (rope-shaped “Judas” bread, bread shaped like lambs, cross-marked bread, etc.).
The dedication of the restoration is considerable. There is an entire wing that is as yet untouched, and is in a state of tremendous decay. I have been told there was little if any upkeep of such properties during the years of Communist rule (1948-1989). Buildings of architectural and historical importance were often used for housing governmental or military bureaucracy, for storage, or were completely neglected.