Valtice

Above, Letohrádek Kolonáda - Rajsna (German Reistna), an early nineteenth century colonnade folly of the Liechstensteins. The sounds of fowl or fauna are hushed in the hills surrounding Valtice (German Feldsberg) on account of the random explosions and gunfire protecting the vines. This Moravian village lies on the border with Austria, the region sparsely settled, once an isolated outpost during the Cold War. There is a curious blend of neo-Classical, Baroque and neo-Gothic architectural styles to be found in the various buildings and follies commissioned over the seventeenth to twentieth centuries by the Dukes of Liechtenstein. Their grand Baroque residence in Valtice was designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach. Castles and various outlying hunting lodges and follies are set in countryside shaped by the principles of the English Romantic landscapists.
These photographs were taken in the falling light of an evening in early October, around the time of Burčák (German Federweisser).