Sightseeing tours of the château

The Treasures of Moravská Třebová (40-45 minutes)

This tour is dedicated to the history of the château and life in the Renaissance through the early 20th century. The tour begins with the Renaissance humanist era, which left the largest impression on the château. One of the most important exhibit items is the 16th-century tapestry that Ladislav of Boskovice had made in what is now Belgium before he had the château renovated in the Early Renaissance style.
Another prominent figure who had a significant impact on the architectural development of the château was Ladislav Velen of Žerotín, who hosted numerous artists, scholars as well as alchemists at his court. Ladislav was one of the wealthiest noblemen in the land and even held the post of Moravian provincial governor for a time. In the early 17th century, he had the château expanded by three wings with an opulent system of arcades in the Mannerist style.
After the Battle of White Mountain, he was forced to leave the country, and the château came under the ownership of the Lords of Liechtenstein, who had their clerks and domain administration relocated here. The tour ends in the 15th-century knight’s hall, which features a Late Gothic vaulted ceiling with the alliance coats of arms of the Lords of Boskovice.

Admission: CZK 70 / 40 / CZK 200
www.zamekmoravskatrebova.cz

Medieval Torture Chamber (30-35 minutes)

Torture law is the theme of this exhibit entitled “Medieval Torture Chamber,” which was created in 2007 in the cellars of the Moravská Třebová château. The exhibit introduces visitors to the inhumane practices of torture. Here you can experience the horrific atmosphere of the torture and execution chamber, and try for yourselves some of the various torture devices and coercive tools, such as the Spanish boot, pillory, thumbscrews, cucking stool and rack.
Moravská Třebová was granted execution rights around 1406, and the execution and torture chamber used to be located outside of the city walls. The current exposition in the cellars of the former Boskovice castle is a reminder of this tragic period.
Come and experience the Middle Ages for yourself!

Admission: CZK 70 / 40 / CZK 200

Handicapped access is not available to the medieval torture chamber.

---

Master Bonacina’s Alchemy Laboratory (35-40 min.)

This new interactive and multimedia exhibit takes you to the laboratory of Master Bonacina, an astrologist, alchemist, and the court physician of Ladislav Velen of Žerotín. The alchemist’s mysterious apprentices will guide you through the laboratory, and, if you’re lucky, you may even obtain the elixir of eternal youth. You will learn about the tools of practical alchemy: retorts, alembics, athanors, vessels, smelting furnaces and others. You will see the guardian of the alchemist’s laboratory, the Golem, with your own eyes, experience magical alchemy experiments, take a peek at the Žerotín birth horoscope and decipher rich alchemical symbolism. Unveil the mysteries of the eternal cycle of life and death!

Admission: CZK 60 / 40 / CZK 180
www.zamekmoravskatrebova.cz

---

 Life in the Country (15 min., individual tour, can be toured without a guide)

This exhibit showcases the lifestyle of our ancestors. It depicts their everyday lives, so different from our current manner of existence. The Moravská Třebová region is known for flax cultivation and for weaving linen cloth. Visitors can try their own hand at operating a weaving loom and see how easy it is. In addition to the loom, you can also see other tools for processing linen, the furnishings of a farmer’s parlour and an antique mangle. 

Admission: full: CZK 20
discounted: CZK 10 (children, students, seniors, disabled persons)
family admission: max. 2 adults and 3 children, up to 6 years of age free

Handicapped access available upon prior appointment only. Refreshments available in the château café. A sampling of mysterious elixirs of love and health. Free time for private activities: (purchasing souvenirs, etc.) Recommended: sweet snacks at the Pod věží pastry shop or at one of the restaurants in the pedestrian zone.

---

Visiting the Historical City Centre

A tour of the Late Gothic and Renaissance maashauses, the Renaissance town hall and the plague column.

A visit the Tourist Information Centre featuring an original ceiling mural from 1542 (St Florian, the patron saint of firefighters).

Burgher Houses

Built from stone and brick after the large fires in the city in the 16th century, these are a unique series of surviving Gothic and Renaissance burgher houses in the heart of the city. The ground-floor foyers (maashauses) in particular boast beautiful groin and diamond vaults, ribs, keystones, and corbels. Some of the houses also feature portals bearing the coats of arms of the Lords of Boskovice and of Lipá; the construction of these houses was supported by the owners of the domain.

---

Town Hall

A Late Gothic building from around 1520, reconstructed in the Renaissance style around 1560. The second floor was built in 1824. The building boasts preserved cross and rib vaults, keystones, polychromatic ribs, Renaissance corbels, stone portals, and the rear wing features arcades and a sgraffito façade. Preserved in the mayor’s office (formerly the councillor’s hall) is a Renaissance fresco depicting the Judgement of Solomon from around 1560. The town hall tower from 1521 is a curiosity—it was completed in 1764, and does not have foundations.

---

Plague Column

Standing in the centre of the town square is a plague column built in 1718-1720 to commemorate the plague epidemic in 1715 that took the lives of a third of the entire population of the city, i.e. approximately 900 people. The creator of the work and its sculptural ornamentation was Olomouc sculptor Jan Sturmer.
From 2:00 p.m.

The tour continues on to Křížový vrch Hill

Below the château past the flood plaques, along the Staircase of the Dead (Schody mrtvých) to the cemetery, past the Gothic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross from 1500, to the grave of Anna Gromesová (the legend of Annenruhe—a Moravská Třebová Romeo and Juliet story), then to the Calvary sculpture series by J. Pacák, to the top of Křížový vrch Hill (gorgeous views of the surrounding forested valleys as well as of Moravská Třebová itself).

Stone Bridge with Flood Plaques

The bridge on Jevíčská Street is formed by a dike for the cascades of several fish-ponds beginning south of the château and continuing all the way to the other side of town, to Nové sady. The beginning of the bridge features the sculpture series Rozloučení s Pannou Marií (Farewell to the Virgin Mary), allegedly by Moravská Třebová sculptor J. Pacák from 1722. The sculpture series was to be a part of a Stations of the Cross from the parish church to Křížový vrch Hill. The bridge also features stone plaques with a description of the aftermath of two great floods in 1663 and 1770 that ruptured the dams of the ponds near the city and caused flooding. The plaques and their text were commissioned by the Lichtensteins.

Staircase of the Dead (Schody mrtvých)

This covered staircase with a portal bears the emblem of the Lords of Boskovice and the quote “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord”. The staircase was built during the reign of Jan of Boskovice and leads to Křížový vrch Hill.

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The lapidarium in the Empire-era mortuary includes a number of notable Renaissance tombstones from the turn of the 17th century. These are primarily the tombstones of Protestants that were removed during the re-Catholicisation following the Battle of White Mountain and used as paving stones in the church. The cemetery is also home to a number of graves of Russian emigrants, mostly from the ranks of the nobility, who worked at the Russian grammar school in the city in 1922-35.

Tours end around 5:00 p.m. 

Prices for tours of the city with a tour guide do not include admission fees.