Brantice Castle is a charming former noble residence sitting on the bank of the Opava River in the small village of Brantice, Bruntál district. With layers of history stretching from the Renaissance through Baroque to Classicism, it offers a quietly impressive mix of architecture, sculpture and parkland that rewards curious visitors.
The castle's three single-storey wings frame a rectangular courtyard open towards the park, with arcaded galleries and a grand entrance portal flanked by Tuscan columns supporting an iron-railed balcony. The surrounding English-style park, enclosed by a tall stone wall, was laid out between 1890 and 1900 and lovingly revitalised in 2012. At 360 m above sea level, it is a peaceful green retreat whatever the season. Inside the park stands a magnificent Baroque stone statue of Hercules dating from 1709 — over 255 cm tall, depicted in a fighting stance with one foot triumphantly placed over a lion. Near the entrance bridge, a sandstone statue of Saint John of Nepomuk from the late 18th century watches over the spot where a water-filled moat once ran.
How to get thereWhat makes Brantice special is its remarkable continuity: a wooden medieval fortress with earth ramparts and a water moat stood here as early as 1449, and the Renaissance castle that replaced it took over forty years to complete, finally finished in 1604.