Czech Republic · 16th century
Kynžvart Castle (Czech: Zámek Kynžvart; German: Schloss Königswart) is a historic château located near Lázně Kynžvart in the Cheb District of the Czech Republic. The building's architecture is in the neoclassical style. After extensive renovations, the castle was reopened to the public in 2000. A guided tour takes visitors through 25 rooms of the castle.
The first Schloss Königswart, built before 1600, collapsed. After the Battle of White Mountain during the Thirty Years' War, the remains of the castle were confiscated and by 1630 granted to the Metternich family. From 1682 to 1691, Count Philipp Emmerich von Metternich (1621-1698) turned the decayed ruins into a Baroque residence. From 1821 to 1836, the Austrian Chancellor Klemens Wenzel von Metternich remodeled the building in the neoclassical style with the help of architect Pietro Nobile.
The castle was confiscated from the Metternich family in 1945 by the Czechoslovak government.
The castle has a library that includes over 200 examples of incunabula, medieval manuscripts, valuable prints, scientific books, and scientific encyclopedias. In 1828, a museum was founded to display the castle's natural science collections, coins, historical and technological curiosities, manuscripts, ancient Egyptian monuments, marble sculptures, and pieces of Oriental art.
Since 1830 the castle has been home to the mummified remains of Qenamūn an Egyptian man who most likely lived during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. It is also home to the mummified remains of Pentahutres an Egyptian man who most likely lived during the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
Text adapted from “Kynžvart Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castle Kynžvart ranks #2,162 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #49 of the 243 mapped in Czech Republic. Founded 1597, it is older than 32% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,432 times in the last 60 days, more than 74% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 33,000 visitors in 2022. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Karlovy Vary, 32 km away. It is one of the 189 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Bohemia. See how Czech Republic compares in the castle statistics.
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