Discover Castrov: Church, Art Nouveau and Wayside Shrines

Discover Castrov: Architectural History and Local Traditions

Castrov offers a culturally rich journey with specific architectural and commemorative details. In Častrov, the parish church of St. Nicholas, an Art Nouveau school building, several wayside shrines and the Park u kostela are the main highlights. The distinctive features range from the Gothic core of a church to reliefs, tower clocks and a protected landscape area. This makes the town interesting for anyone who wants to discover history through forms, materials and visible signs.

St. Nicholas: Gothic Core and Baroque Alterations

The Church of St. Nicholas in Častrov is protected as a cultural monument; its register number is ÚSKP 26993/3-2964. It is the parish church of Častrov and was founded around 1350. Its structure has a Gothic core and was remodeled in the Baroque period. The unusually arranged clocks in the onion dome of the tower are particularly striking. This building thus brings together its foundation around 1350, medieval fabric, Baroque alterations and an unconventional tower design.

The Art Nouveau School Building

The school in Častrov is a two-storey Art Nouveau building dating from 1912–1913. Its floor plan is T-shaped; a central wing projects into the garden. Above the central risalit gable is a figural relief depicting two seated young women, a book and children. There is also an owl relief in the tympanum of the entrance portal. Anyone looking at the building will therefore find not just a stylistic label, but several clearly distinguishable details in its floor plan and façade.

Two Wayside Shrines with an Independent Formal Language

The wayside shrine in Častrov is a Late Gothic granite monument dating from around 1500. The chapel is crowned by a pyramidal roof with a substantial stone cross. The wayside shrine also has a slender lantern chapel open on three sides, with so-called ogee arches, meaning pointed, curved arch forms.

Another Baroque stone wayside shrine is located in the south of the municipality of Častrov. Its column with entasis, meaning a slightly curved column form, stands on a cuboid base. The cushion capital supports a prismatic chapel with an illegible Czech inscription. The two wayside shrines thus differ in period, material and architectural structure.

Park and Commemorative Culture

The Park u kostela in Častrov is a registered significant landscape element and is subject to enhanced protection under the municipal zoning plan. There is also a historic commemorative site: The monument to those who fell in the First World War was handed over to the citizens on July 5, 1923. Since then, the so-called Národní–letní pouť has taken place in Častrov on the first Sunday in August. This date connects local history with a recurring local tradition.

Other Places in the Travel Region

If you would like to research other places in the same travel region in addition to Castrov, you can continue your selection here: Křešín, Senozaty, Želiv, Kamenice Nad Lipou, Vyskytná, Veselá, Cernov and Počátky.

To the higher-level travel overview: Okres Pelhřimov.