Skalice: Castle, Park and Cultural Landscape

Skalice combines a remarkable castle history with a characterful park and botanically significant dry habitats. This creates a destination where architectural history, the townscape and the landscape can be explored in different ways. Its appeal lies less in a single highlight than in the juxtaposition of historical traces and areas of natural-history interest.

Castle History and Townscape

Skalice Castle was built at the beginning of the 19th century in the Empire style, on the site of the former St. Vitus Chapel. The complex includes a chapel wing arranged around a rectangular courtyard. The castle served as a summer residence for the Lords of Bítov. Since 1954, the castle has housed a care home for the elderly. This present-day use is important for understanding the site: the castle thus represents both the history of Skalice and an existing social institution. The information about the building should therefore not automatically be understood as indicating that the interior is freely open to visitors. The wider townscape also offers several distinct points of interest. The granary in Skalice dates from the early 19th century and is regarded as a prominent landmark of the region. A chapel from the second quarter of the 19th century stands on the hill above Skalice. A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk at the new belfry dates from the late 18th century; a second statue of the same saint stands on the Class II road west of Skalice. The medieval town centre around today's castle is designated as a UAN-2 area with archaeological finds.

Castle Park and Dry Steppe Grasslands

The Skalička stream flows through Skalice. Skalice Castle Park lies along the stream and was designed as an English landscape park. One of its striking natural features is a 35-metre-tall London plane. The park complements the town's stone and historic points of reference with a landscape whose design is closely connected to the watercourse. The Skalické kopečky have a distinctly different natural character. They are botanically significant sites of dry steppe grasslands. In addition to the highly endangered large-flowered pasqueflower, they are home to numerous species listed in the Red List. For travellers interested in natural history, this contrast with the designed castle park is particularly striking.

Historical Discoveries and Reasons to Travel

The vintage car gathering Sraz veteránů is a recurring event. It takes place on the grounds of Selský dvůr Skalice. The gathering adds its own focus alongside the historic buildings and natural features, without any specific event date being inferred from this. Those looking for accommodation in Skalice can therefore first decide on their preferred focus: castle and local history, parkland, botanical features or a stay connected with the vintage car gathering. Not all of these themes represent the same type of stay. For your further research, the following destinations are also available: Kadov, Blížkovice, Lechovice, Slup, Uhercice U Znojma, Křídlůvky, Velký Karlov and Šafov.

For the higher-level travel overview: Znojmo District.