Buchlov Castle is a medieval castle in the Chřiby hills in the Uherské Hradiště area, declared a National Cultural Monument and administered by the National Heritage Institute.
Buchlov Castle lies 12 km west of Uherské Hradiště, in the south-eastern, central part of the Chřiby hills, at an altitude of 540 m [2]. It is about 6 km from the municipality of Buchlovice, part of which already extends into the Chřiby forest complex [2].
History
The origins of the castle date to the first half of the 13th century, when it was founded by the Czech king as a strategic defensive fortress and at the same time a centre with judicial authority and the so-called hunting right [1]. According to the National Heritage Institute the castle was never completely captured [1].
The oldest part of the castle consisted of defensive towers with a residential hall (mázhaus), a palace and a chapel. The chapel was built in the 1280s by the Prague masons' lodge during the reign of Ottokar II of Bohemia [1]. The castle remained in the permanent possession of the king until the middle of the 16th century, although in this period it was often pledged to noble families [1].
At the end of the 15th century the castle was owned by the lords of Cimburk, under whom the representative knights' hall was built in the late Gothic style [1]. In 1520 the castle passed into private ownership [1]. From the 16th to the 20th century it was owned in succession by the Moravian families of the lords of Žerotín, Zástřizly, Petřvaldský of Petřvald and Berchtold [1]. In this period construction work in the Renaissance and Baroque spirit took place at the castle [1].
Location and surroundings
The area on which the castle stands belongs geologically to the Carpathian system, specifically to the Rača unit of the Magura flysch, formed by Paleogene claystones, sandstones and conglomerates [2]. The terrain is geomorphologically varied, mostly hilly, and the foot of the Chřiby nature park joins the Lower Morava Valley [2]. Around the castle the hills are defined by three prominent peaks: Holý kopec, the hill with Buchlov Castle itself, and the hill Modla, on which the Chapel of St Barbara stands [2].
According to the National Heritage Institute, the Uherské Hradiště area is among the warmest areas of the Czech Republic, with average annual temperatures for the settlement of around 8–9 °C and average precipitation of 250–450 mm [2]. Streams in the surroundings drain into the basin of the Morava (river) and the Black Sea catchment [2]. In the immediate surroundings of the castle, in the part of the municipality called "Smraďavka" with a water reservoir, there are sulphurous spa waters [2]. The forests surrounding the castle consist mainly of hornbeam and beech stands [2].
The Chapel of St Barbara on the neighbouring hill Modla belongs to the castle as a cultural monument [2].
Status
The castle is declared a National Cultural Monument and is administered by the National Heritage Institute, territorial office in Kroměříž [1].
Access
The local access road to the castle joins the E50 road, which connects Slovakia, Uherské Hradiště and Brno, and the distance from this road to the car park below the castle is 3 km [2]. The castle can be reached by bus on the Brno – Uherské Hradiště – Zlín route, with stops in the small town of Buchlovice or directly at the Buchlov hrad stop [2]. The nearest railway junction is Staré Město near Uherské Hradiště, from where a bus runs to Buchlovice [2]. The nearest airports are in Brno and Kunovice [2]. The walking route from the municipality of Buchlovice along the yellow-marked trail takes about 45 minutes [2].