The Benedikt Rejt Gallery in the town of Louny is one of the most surprising cultural stops for anyone travelling through the Czech countryside - a museum of art dedicated to geometric abstraction and constructivist tendencies of the second half of the 20th century, holding more than 18,000 works.

The gallery occupies a beautifully converted former municipal brewery on Pivovarská Street. The reconstruction, designed by architect Emil Přikryl between 1993 and 1996, is considered one of the most significant works of Czech architecture of the 1990s and was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe European Architecture Award. The raw industrial brewery walls combine with minimalist art displays to create a unique, contemplative atmosphere - one that shifts with the seasons, feeling especially stark and meditative in winter, while natural light animates the galleries in summer.

How to get there

• Louny town centre - the gallery stands at Pivovarská 29-34, an easy walk from the main square
• A branch site, the Emil Filla Memorial Hall, is located at the chateau in Peruc

Practical information

• Collections include over 18,000 works, among them about 3,000 drawings and 6,500 prints
• The gallery is established by the Ústí nad Labem Region
• There has been no permanent collection exhibition for almost thirty years - the programme focuses on thematic and monographic exhibitions
• Since 2024 the Peruc branch presents a new exhibition dedicated to painter Emil Filla

Art historian Josef Hlaváček once remarked that the building's architecture is so striking it risks overshadowing the artworks displayed within it.