Sobčice Chateau Audio guide

An Early Baroque Residence on Older Foundations

The chateau in Sobčice stands on the site of a medieval fortress documented in written sources as early as the fourteenth century. Its present form dates from 1630 to 1634, when the older fortified residence was rebuilt into an early Baroque chateau for Stanislav Dohalsky of Dohalice. This was a typical transformation of a noble residence at a time when the defensive role of fortresses was gradually fading and the emphasis was shifting toward representation and more comfortable living.

Owners and Changes to the Estate

After the Dohalsky family, the chateau was acquired by the Valdice monastery, which adapted it in the eighteenth century for the administration of its estates and the entire Sobčice and Vojice domain. After the monasteries were dissolved under the Josephine reforms, the building passed into the administration of the Religious Fund, and it was later purchased by the Trauttmansdorff family. In the twentieth century, the building also served administrative purposes, and between 1980 and 1990 it housed a gallery with a permanent exhibition of the painter Karel Slengr.

Architecture and Present Significance

The chateau is a one storey building with a mansard roof. Above the entrance stands a small tower with an onion dome, and on its first floor is the Chapel of Saint Bruno. On the facade, the monogram of the Carthusian monastery is still visible, recalling the period of its administration. The complex is protected as a cultural monument and represents a valuable example of the development of a rural noble residence from a fortress into a Baroque chateau.