The Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape is an extensive cultural landscape surrounding Lednice Castle and Valtice Castle in the South Moravian Region. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996.[2] The National Heritage Institute states that the landscape was built mainly by the House of Liechtenstein during the 18th and 19th centuries.[2] The Lednice State Castle notes that the area developed over centuries at the initiative of this family across an area of nearly 300 km², where nature intertwines with architecture and artistic intentions combine with the economic use of the landscape.[1]
Castles
The main structures are the castles in Lednice and Valtice, surrounded by large parks. Lednice Castle was originally Baroque and was given its romantic Neo-Gothic appearance between 1846 and 1858, designed by Georg Wingelmüller. Its notable features include a palm house, designed by Wingelmüller in 1843–1845, and monumental Baroque riding halls by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, built between 1688 and 1699. Valtice Castle gradually acquired its present-day Baroque appearance during the 17th century.[2]
The landscape is crossed by avenues and dotted with ponds, forest areas and extensive farmland, mainly vineyards. The area also includes numerous small romantic structures, so-called folly buildings, which blend harmoniously into the landscape.[2]
Structures in the Landscape
On its website, Lednice Castle describes a set of structures that together form an ensemble of worldwide significance.[1] These structures include the following.
Belvedere was built between 1803 and 1806 to a design by the Liechtenstein architect Joseph Hardtmuth as a special recreational lookout area, with interiors painted by Joseph Langenhöffel. The Obelisk from 1798, designed by Joseph Hardtmuth, commemorates the 1797 peace between France and Austria. Rendezvous, shaped like a Roman triumphal arch, was designed by Joseph Hardtmuth in 1810–1813 and built by Josef Poppelack. Pohansko is a Classicist building with a rectangular ground plan from 1810–1812, built on an archaeological site.[1]
The Reistna Colonnade, built in 1816–1817, dominates the landscape above Valtice. The Border Chateau, a Classicist building from 1825–1826, was built by Josef Poppelack to a design by Franz Engel. The Temple of the Three Graces summer palace, from 1825–1827, is also the work of the Viennese architect Josef Franz Engel. The Moorish House was originally a utility building dating from a third of the 18th century, later extended and remodelled in the Moorish style in the second quarter of the 19th century. The Hunting Lodge, near the forest east of Lednice Castle, dates from the same period. Other structures include the Temple of Apollo, with a colonnade overlooking Mill Pond, the Fishery Lodge, which originally served as a meeting place for hunters before fishing and fowling expeditions, the Neo-Gothic Chapel of St. Hubert, and New Yard, a prototype model farmstead.[1]
Lednice is also home to the Church of St. James the Elder, which forms a wing adjoining the castle's southern façade and serves as the parish church, and the Neo-Gothic Jubilee Fountain from the second half of the 19th century, designed by the Liechtenstein architect Karl Weinbrenner.[1]
Ponds
Ponds between Lednice, Valtice and Mikulov have been created since as early as the 15th century. Mill Pond is adorned by the Temple of Apollo on a hill, the Fishery Lodge, noted on the website as significant for ornithologists, stands above the middle pond, and the Temple of the Three Graces and New Yard rise on elevated ground.[1]