Lešná Chateau Audio guide

The chateau on the site of a medieval fortress

Lešná Chateau in the village of Lešná in the Vsetin region is among the monuments in which a long architectural evolution can be clearly traced. Its present form began to take shape from the first half of the 17th century, but its core builds on an older fortress documented already in the 14th century. Parts of the masonry of the Gothic structure have survived to this day in the fabric of the chateau.

In the mid-16th century, the fortress was rebuilt into a Renaissance four-wing chateau. Further alterations followed in the 17th century and later under Rudolf Magnus Podstatsky of Prusinovice, who owned the estate from 1710 to 1740. It was then that the building acquired its Baroque character.

The appearance of the chateau and the park

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, thanks to Jiří Bees, a château garden covering 7 hectares was laid out. The last owners, the Kinskys, gave the building a Classicist character with Neo-Gothic details. Inside, features such as a balustrade railing, painted ceilings, and original Baroque floors have been preserved.

After 1945, the Kinskys had to leave the chateau. Between 1948 and 1975, a school was housed here, which had a significant impact on the layout and use of the building. Since 2011, the chateau has been open to the public and represents a valuable example of a noble residence that underwent transformations from Gothic through Renaissance and Baroque to the historicist alterations of the 19th century.