Kratochvíle is a picturesque Renaissance manorial residence surrounded by a park located in the south Bohemian countryside, near Netolice, Prachatice district, Czech Republic. The medieval moated fortified stronghold of 1569 was turned into a hunting lodge between 1583 and 1589 by Vilém of Rožmberk. It was designed in the style of the Roman country villa and named Kratochvíle. The architect was Baldassare Maggi from Arogno, Ticino (CH). The whole complex with an entrance wing, outline of fortifications, moat and drawbridge was built in the form of a slightly elongated rectangle, and the château was built on piles of marshy ground. The small kaple Panny Marie (Chapel of Our Lady), in the southwest corner of the château gardens was built between 1584 and 1589. The glory days of the château ended when Petr Vok of Rožmberk had to sell it to Emperor Rudolf II in 1601 because of debts. The emperor gave the château to the Eggenbergs and in 1719 it was acquired by the Schwarzenbergs. The international arrangement of the building to the layout of an Italian villa, with the open loggia on the ground floor being replaced here by a large vaulted entrance hall, which corresponded to the area of the Great Hall on the first floor, is linked to the ground floor by a staircase. On both floors rooms of varying sizes are liked to these chambers. On the ground floor they were partly of a functional nature and on the first floor they included the private apartments of the lord and lady, and the most grandiose room of the château, the Great Gold Hall where visitors were received and which is richly decorated, as are most of the other rooms, with stucco reliefs and murals based on classical mythology by Antonio Melana. During extensive restoration experts discovered five paintings depicting scenes from the life of Samson, in the adjoining Small Gold Hall. In the 19th century the château was converted into apartments for the Schwarzenberg family and in 1950 the restoration work was carried out. Kratochvíle houses an exhibition of Czech puppet and animated films with original works by notable Czech producer Jiří Trnka, Hermína Týrlová and Karel Zeman.

Kratochvíle (německy Kurzweil) je renesanční zámek 2 km severozápadně od města Netolice v okrese Prachatice. Patrová vila byla využívána jako lovecké letní sídlo. V současné době je ve vlastnictví státu (správu zajišťuje Národní památkový ústav) a je přístupná veřejnosti. Na místě dnešního zámku původně stával hospodářský dvůr nazývaný Leptáč, který v roce 1569 věnoval Vilém z Rožmberka (1535-1592) regentu rožmberského dominia a budovateli jihočeských rybníků Jakubu Krčínovi z Jelčan. Krčín zde postavil nový dvůr, kolem něhož zřídil rozsáhlou loveckou oboru. Takto půvabně položený dvůr se rožmberskému vladaři zalíbil natolik, že ho v roce 1579 směnil s Krčínem za městečko Sedlčany s deseti vesnicemi. Do současné podoby po vzoru italských vil nechal zámek vystavět Vilém z Rožmberka v letech 1583-1589, výstavbou pověřil vlašského stavitele Baldassara Maggiho z Arogna. Nejokázalejší místností zámku je velký přijímací zlatý sál. Reliéfní výzdobu patra vily a zámecké kaple provedl v letech 1588-1589 italský štukatér Antonio Melana. Autorem malířských prací na zámku z roku 1589 je Georg Widman.

Free parking hotel

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