Hoštice – Chestnut Avenues and Baroque Traces

Between Chestnut Avenues and Baroque History

Hoštice combines distinctive walking routes with a remarkable density of historical traces. Those who enjoy combining landscape and culture during their stay will discover paths here through chestnut avenues, the history of Hoštice Castle and several examples of Baroque architecture. The focus is therefore not on just one viewpoint: the various paths and buildings offer different ways of experiencing this place.

Walks with Their Own Character

The “Kaštanová vycházka” follows the yellow-marked hiking trail from the chestnut avenue to the forest. Together with ash and walnut trees, the avenue consists of a total of 332 trees and is one of the protected memorial tree avenues. The path is therefore not only a connection in the direction of the forest, but also a clearly defined landscape feature with its own historical character.

Another description of the walk leads from Hoštice Castle via a second chestnut avenue to the forest. This makes it possible to combine the castle grounds with a route characterized by tree avenues and the transition into the forest. The “Lesem Hříběcích hor z Hoštic ke kapličce Na Strašné” route leads from Hoštice along an old castle avenue to the forest chapel of Na Strašné.

Hoštice can also be reached from outside the immediate starting point via an old, extensive chestnut avenue running between Litenčice and Zdislavice. For your planning, this creates several connections between avenues, castle history and forest paths, without these routes needing to be combined into a single circuit.

Castle, Park and Historical Details

Hoštice Castle already had a fortress as its predecessor in the 12th century and was later converted into a small chateau. Today, the castle is not open to the public. However, it is possible to look into the park through the castle’s grille gate. This restriction is crucial for sightseeing: the castle history and the park can be experienced from outside or by looking through the gate, while no publicly accessible castle tour is described.

A historic formal ornamental garden also once extended across two terraces beside the castle. Horse chestnuts planted in a regular grid have survived on the lower terrace. The castle park also contains a bust of the writer Marie Ebner-Eschenbach, made of white marble and set on a stone pedestal.

Baroque Landmarks in Hoštice

The local architecture includes the Baroque Church of St. Giles, built according to a design by Jakub Pánek. The church’s wall paintings are attributed to Sebastini; František Antonín Šebesta is another name for Sebastini. Another example is the Boží muka wayside shrine, which belongs to the folk architecture of the Baroque period. As a high-Baroque wayside shrine, it has a rectangular ground plan, niches with conches in the lower section and shallow niches with depictions of saints in the upper section. It is topped by a pyramidal roof with a two-winged iron cross.

For further places to visit when planning your trip, you can choose from [Zlobice](Zlobice), [Rajnochovice](Rajnochovice), [Blazice](Blazice), [Lechotice](Lechotice), [Bezměrov](Bezměrov), [Slavkov Pod Hostýnem](Slavkov Pod Hostýnem), [Pačlavice](Pačlavice) and [Chomýž](Chomýž) .

For the higher-level travel overview: Kroměříž District.