UNESCO World Heritage Site in Lednice and Valtice, Czech Republic
Lednice?Valtice Cultural Landscape
UNESCO World Heritage Site
|
---|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Lednice%E2%80%93Valtice_Cultural_Landscape_Montage_II.jpg/260px-Lednice%E2%80%93Valtice_Cultural_Landscape_Montage_II.jpg) from top:
Lednice Castle
, Valtice Castle, Rendezvous Pavilion, one of Lednice Ponds, John's Castle, Rajsna Colonnade, Venetian fountain in Lednice Castle garden, view on Lednice Castle park with Minaret
|
Location
| Lednice
and
Valtice
,
Czech Republic
|
---|
Criteria
| Cultural: (i), (ii), (iv)
|
---|
Reference
| 763
|
---|
Inscription
| 1996 (20th
Session
)
|
---|
Area
| 14,320 ha (35,400 acres)
|
---|
Coordinates
| 48°46′33″N
16°46′30″E
/
48.77583°N 16.77500°E
/
48.77583; 16.77500
|
---|
Location of Lednice?Valtice Cultural Landscape in Czech Republic
|
The
Lednice?Valtice Cultural Landscape
(also
Lednice?Valtice Area
or
Lednice?Valtice Complex
,
Czech
:
Lednicko-valticky areal
) is a
cultural-natural landscape
complex of 283.09 square kilometres (109.30 sq mi) in the
South Moravian Region
of the
Czech Republic
. It comprises the municipalities of
Lednice
,
Valtice
and
Hlohovec
, and the rural area of
B?eclav
.
In 1996, the Lednice-Valtice Area was registered on the
UNESCO
World Heritage List
because of its unique mix of
Baroque
,
Neolassical
, and
neo-Gothic architecture
, and its history as a cultural landscape designed intentionally by a single family.
[1]
It is adjacent to the
Palava Landscape Protected Area
(Palava Biosphere Reserve), a biosphere reserve registered by UNESCO several years before.
[2]
The close proximity of two
cultural landscapes
protected by UNESCO is unique.
History
[
edit
]
The
House of Liechtenstein
acquired Valtice (German name: Feldsberg) Castle in 1249, which marked the beginning of their settlement in the area. It remained the principal Liechtenstein residence for 700 years, until 1939 and World War II.
[3]
Valtice Castle was expanded in late Romanesque style in the first half of the 13th century, but was badly damaged in the
Hussite Wars
and later rebuilt by
Charles I, Prince of Liechtenstein
, in the Baroque style. From the 14th century, Lednice (German name: Eisgrub) was a fortified manor belonging to the Valtice estate and from 1680 it was expanded into a palace that was redesigned in a Tudor
Gothic Revival
style (then: "Old English style") between 1846 and 1858 by Prince
Aloys II
.
17th?19th centuries
[
edit
]
The
Princes of Liechtenstein
transformed their properties Feldsberg (Valtice) and Eisgrub (Lednice) into one large and designed private park between the 17th and 20th centuries. During the 19th century, the princes continued transforming the area as a large traditional
English landscape park
. Feldsberg was part of Austria until 1919,Eisgrub part of the
Kingdom of Bohemia
, both member states of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
under the
Habsburg
rule, with the Austrian-Bohemian border running through the park between the two castles. The 1919
Treaty of Saint-Germain
stipulated that the city of Feldsberg, which in 1910 was about 97% inhabited by German-speaking Lower Austrians, became part of
Czechoslovakia
.
The Baroque and neo-Gothic architecture of the
chateaux
are married with smaller buildings and a landscape that was fashioned according to the English principles of landscape architecture.
[3]
In 1715 these two chateaux (castles) were connected by a 7 km (4.3 miles) long
landscape avenue
and road, later renamed for the poet
Petr Bezru?
, due to his poem
Val?ice
describing a journey to Lednice after tasting vine in Valtice. Whilst both Lednice and Valtice have grown since then, and the road doesn't connect the chateaux as once intended, a large part of this avenue remains in use to this day. The Lednice Ponds are situated between the town of Valtice and villages of Lednice and Hlohovec; as are the
Mlynsky
,
Prost?edni
,
Hlohovecky
, and
Nesyt
Ponds. A substantial part of the cultural landscape complex is covered in
pine
forests, known as the "Pine?wood" (
Bo?i les
), and in areas adjacent to the
Thaya
River with
riparian forests
.
[3]
20th century
[
edit
]
In 1918 the region became part of new
Czechoslovakia
. The Liechtenstein family opposed the annexation of Czech territory into
Sudetenland
by
Nazi Germany
, and as a consequence their properties were confiscated by the Nazis, and the family then relocated to
Vaduz
in 1939. After World War II the
Bene? decrees
resulted in the confiscation of all Liechtenstein property in Czechoslovakia, as the family is seen as German in nationality to this day by the Czech state. The family made several legal attempts for restitution of the properties, but the
communist
regime was not interested in restitution of property to exiled aristocracy.
After the Czechoslovakian
Velvet Revolution
in 1989, the Liechtenstein descendants again renewed legal attempts for restitution, which were repeatedly denied by the Czech state, the present day owner of the properties.
[4]
Features
[
edit
]
The principal elements are:
- Chateau Valtice (German :
Schloss Feldsberg
) and its contiguous town of
Valtice
- Lednice Castle (German :
Schloss Eisgrub
) and its contiguous village of
Lednice
- The village of
Hlohovec
Pavilions and follies
[
edit
]
St Hubert Chapel
In addition to the castles, there are many large to small residential
pavilions
located throughout the designed landscape, often serving as chateau or hunting lodges.
[5]
Temple of the Three Graces
- Temple of the Three Graces
(
T?i Gracie
)
? a semicircle gallery with allegorical statues of Sciences and
Muses
and a statue of the
Three Graces
from the 1820s
- Pond House
(
Rybni?ni zame?ek
)
? at the shore of one of the Lednice Ponds
Novy dv?r
Pohansko
Preservation
[
edit
]
The garden
follies
and the
conservatory
of Lednice Park were listed in the
1998 World Monuments Watch
by the
World Monuments Fund
, for their deteriorating condition resulting from insufficient financial resources.
[6]
The Fund had previously studied the preservation of Lednice and Valtice Castles, and after 1998 it helped fund restoration of the Valtice Rendezvous folly as a demonstration project with support from
American Express
.
[7]
See also
[
edit
]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
Lednice Castle
-
Castle Greenhouse in Lednice
-
Interior of the greenhouse
-
From the Lednice Castle garden
-
Lednice Castle
Riding-Hall
-
The
Prost?edni
(Middle) one of the Lednice Ponds
-
Valtice Castle
-
Border House
-
John's Castle
-
Hunting Lodge
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape"
.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre
. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
. Retrieved
2021-04-02
.
- ^
"Palava Nature Reserve | Mikulov.cz"
.
mikulov.cz
. Retrieved
2021-04-02
.
- ^
a
b
c
Sva?ek, Libor (2015).
UNESCO
. pp. 60?71.
ISBN
978-80-7339-067-9
.
- ^
"The former Liechtenstein possessions of Lednice-Valtice"
. Minor Sights. September 2014
. Retrieved
4 October
2014
.
- ^
The term
zame?ek
(
German
:
Schlosschen
, literally a
small chateau
) ? is usually translated here as a "
manor house
" ? or a "
hunting lodge
" (
Czech
:
lovecky zame?ek
,
German
:
Jagdschlosschen
), if it served for
hunting
.
- ^
World Monuments Fund ? Lednice and Valtice Cultural Landscape
- ^
Elaine Louie, New York Times, "Saving Endangered Art and Architecture," June 25, 1998.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Kordiovsky, Emil ? Klanicova Ev?enie (eds.),
M?sto B?eclav
, Muzejni a vlastiv?dna spole?nost, Brno (2001).
- Pamatkovy ustav v Brn?: text on the reverse of a tourist map, Shocart, Zlin (1998).
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
| Flag of the Czech Republic
|
1
Shared with
Germany
;
2
Shared with six countries;
3
Shared with 17 countries
|