2010

I visited Cesky Krumlov, a small city, is located in the South Bohemia, on November 2010. It is 2.5 hours travel distance from Prague city by bus. The city’s old town is the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site and really worths to have a visit. The city has its history back to 13th century. The sources writes that  construction of the town and castle began in the late 13th century at a ford in the  Vltava River.  The city  had stand on the important trade route of Bohemia.The city has the second largest castle complex in the Czech Republic, and the oldest Baroque theatre in the world.

If you want to feel the spirit of the Medieval century, you certainly need to visit this small city!

The narrow (and even dark) streets, the castle complex which is consist of many part added to each other over the years, bridges over  the deep gaps and cave-shaped restaurant and bars, can take you into a journey to the old times. This small place seems to be very busy during the summer times.When you walk on the streets, you see a very truistic environment; many souvenir and hand-crafts shops, cosy inns, coffee shops, and ancient taverns.

This hilly, green countryside, is perfect for hiking, biking and horse- riding.  If you visit this place during the spring or summer time, you may enjoy rafting or canoeing. You may even try to catch some fish in the river when you buy the fishing permit alsou at Tourist Information Centre. The city is away from a crowded and noisy settlements, therefore you may feel absolute peace while walking around!

The street plan of the town centers around an oblong square and creates a rather irregular roundish orderliness which eventually connect to several routes out. My travel book writes that : “The end of the 18th century is known as the beginning of industrial production, and the paper manufacturer J. J. Pachner built dozens of standard living houses for workers. Full development of paper production, a spinning mill, graphite production and furniture production arrived around the 1830’s. Until the end of the Baroque era, none of the architectonic styles presented themselves with more significant architecture. The small living houses as well as the villas, arriving later, were influenced very much by the taste and style of German constructional culture at the end of the 19th century.”

The castle complex, with its tower situated on a rocky promontory, offers spectacular views of the Old Town. The architectural details of the castle are also interesting.The complex consists of forty buildings and palaces, as well as gardens, courtyards, and a moat with resident bears! Yes it is true! However, if you attempt to visit this place during the winter time, be sure that you have no chance to see bears!

This small city has many galleries and museums also: Egon Schiele Art Centrum, International Art Gallery, 7 museums and 4 galleries. Egon Schiele has always been one of my all time favorite artists. When I found out that there is a art-center named “EGON SCHIELE ART CENTRUM ČESKÝ KRUMLOV”, excited even more to visit there!

The web-site of the museum says : ” Throughout his life Schiele was also filled with enthusiasm for the birthplace and home town of his mother. He already knew the town from childhood visits to relatives and he also spent his holidays during his time at the Academy in Krumau. He drew one of his youthful works in 1906 from a local motif: “The Budweiser Gate in Krumlov”. This work is the earliest known landscape by Schiele.”

Unfortunately the museum was closed -without any notification on the internet- when I was there. This gave me a reason to visit this place another time during my stay in Prague.

During my short visit to the city I also visited a “surrealist exhibition” located in the castle! There was almost no information about the artist of the exhibition (who is a sculptor) and the exhibition was not so inspiring. Yet the exhibition place was amazing and fantastic lighting made the exhibition very interesting. Such surrealist art objects were strew over the city.

Cesky Krumlov can be considered as one of the most beautiful Renaissance towns in Europe. However, at the background picture you may see that single buildings in a technically modern architectural style have started build around the old-town of  Český Krumlov. This spectacular place certainly worths to have a visit!

From my sketch book

 

Second visit in the Spring

2011

My second visit to this beautiful town was in May 2011. Although it was a really quite place in the Autumn which made me feel absolute peace, I decided that best season to visit this place is late Spring! The whole town seemed to be awaken, everywhere was green and the sunshine took the dark Medieval spirit of the place into a joy town. Below are some images that I missed from my first visit.

From the sad silence of the autumn to the joy of the spring…

The whole nature was awaken! Even the sleeping beauties of the castle!

This is the best season for rafting or canoeing! The weather is not so hot and the river is still calm.

Finally I was happy to see two remaining things from my previous visit: The royal garden in the spring time and my eternal love Egon’s museum!

You can find everything in Cesky Krumlov: from old antiques to design objects, interesting cloths and old books! You may even find a Shakespeare bookshop! Some of the books were surprisingly in English. It is amazing to walk in these narrow streets.

    

This will not be my last visit to this beautiful town… Cesky Krumlov is a place where you can fall in love with; but make sure that you don’t visit it during a dark season…