The official website of the castle Kozel states that this castle is the most visited castle in western Bohemia. On the one hand I wonder whether this statement might be biased but on the other hand I find it easily believable. I love the castle with its beautiful garden and park and I like to come back from time to time. But I don't remember being there in autumn... this might have been for the first time... and I was enchanted.
The castle season ends on 31st October in the Czech Republic and we came there on Saturday, the 30th. It was a nice afternoon. Quite cold but accompanied by clear sky and only a few visitors, simply wonderful conditions for taking pictures. We explored the park throughout and found many new parts we had never visited.
Kozel used to be a hunting castle and the building itself looks quite simple. The architect of the castle was supposedly influenced by the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau who propagated return to nature.
"Kozel" means "goat" in Czech and it seems a peculiar name for a castle. According to a legend, this name stems from an old pagan Slavic habit. Ancient Slavs would sacrifice a goat in the time of equinox in this location to reconcile gods with them and to hope for good harvest.
There is also a chapel, riding-school, stable and building for servants in the areal. My friend got married in the chapel, weddings are quite popular there. I wish we visited also the interior but our children were not keen on that idea and we didn't want to force it upon them. Next time, maybe...
What a wonderful place nice spot for a family day--the grounds are beautiful! I imagine there are some spectacular furnishings inside.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely surroundings to this castle Petra.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had beautiful weather that day.
ReplyDeleteA lovely park to explore, and a fine looking castle.
This looks like a great place. Magical photographs. Looking forward to part 2.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments.
ReplyDeleteDixxe, there ARE spectacular furnishings inside. And I also like the rectangular shape of the castle with quadrangle in the middle. It looks simple but is very impresive from the inside.
Roy, I am glad you can see what I wanted to share. :-)
Keith, the weather was really beautiful. My digital camera had a little problem with too wide light dynamic range (I mean too strong sunshine and too deep shadows at one moment)and I had to be pretty careful with exposure settings but I accepted the challenge... ;-)
J_on_tour, it's a lovely place to visit. Conditions were great fot taking photos, you will see more in next part(s)... :-)
It ought to have been renamed (for the tourists) "Cozy Castle" :-) It looked wonderful.
ReplyDeletePS Thank you for the nice comment - you should have seen the 50 I threw in the bin...
Lovely photos - love the fall colors! And sacrificing goats - now that sounds very pagan!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tour of the grounds. I am envying your clear blue sky.
ReplyDeleteRuneE, I'd love to see those 50! I took a few shots of ducks by Kozel and vast majority of them ended up in the bin too... ;-)
ReplyDeleteHelen, thank you. I can't imagine to witness the sacrificing of a goat but obviously such ritual used to be quite a common experience in some cultures...
Sarah, the sky was great, not that usual greyness above our heads. Even better would be if a few white fluffy clouds were hovering there... :-)