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).

Výstaviště, Stromovka

12 November. The planetarium (1960) faced on to by this pair of windows, the industrial palace (Průmyslový palác, Bedrich Munzberger, 1891) nearby the other side.

Beeches at Stromovka

12 November.

Stromovka (5)

12 November.

Místodržitelský letohrádek

Windows of Místodržitelský letohrádek (Governor's Summer Palace), Stromovka. The original building is mentioned in historical records from 1495-1502, from which date survives a staircase in the tower culminating in a column on which sits a stone sculpture of a lion with shield bearing the initials of King Vladislav Jagiello. The royal hunting park of Stromovka (Czech strom = tree) was founded in 1268 by Czech king Premysl Otakar II. In the mid sixteenth century it was newly planted and a large pond was created. Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) had a tunnel drilled under Letna to supply the pond with enough water, created another pond and brought exotic animals and plants to the park.
In 1804 Stromovka park was opened to the public, after Czech nobles saved the grounds from complete destruction under the reign of Maria Theresa who had ordered everything be felled and burned, and in the same year the summer palace was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. It was used as a summer residence for royal governors. Today it houses a library of magazines and newspapers of the National Museum.

Stromovka (4)

12 November.


Beech and sycamore.

Stromovka (3)

Sycamores gave the dominant mid autumn colours in the parks around Prague, ceding then to beech (still green here).


25 October.