ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA | CZECH REPUBLIC |
Středočeský kraj | Central Bohemia region |
Okres: Praha-západ | district: Prague-West |
Průhonice is situated at an elevation of 306 m on the Botič stream in the district Praha-East about 10 km southeast of the city centre of Prague. The municipality has a population of about 1,900 (2019).
The earliest known written document that mentions the place dates from 1187 and refers to the consecration of the church. The earliest report of a castle is found in a document from 1289. Průhonice was completely destroyed during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), but was rebuilt thereafter.
The church of the Nativity of Our Lady [left, no. 4443, and right, no. 3834: background left] was consecrated first in 1187.
Průhonice castle [left, no. 4443, and right, no. 3834: right]
goes back to a castle that was first mentioned in 1289. The castle was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the
16th century. In the 18th century it was acquired by the Count Nostitz-Rieneck who had it remodeled in Empire
style. Further enlargements followed up until the 19th century. By marriage in 1885 it came into possession of
the counts Silva-Tarouca. An extensive reconstruction in Historistic Czech Renaissance revival style was carried out
between 1889 and 1894. A very well-known attraction is the park of the castle, laid out from 1885 onward as a classical
English landscape garden. Enlarged several times, it is one of the largest arboreta in Europe wit about 1.500 species
and varieties of woody plants. The Průhonice Dendrological Society was founded in 1909. The park was sold to
the Czechoslovak state in 1927. Since 1962 the Botanical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences who is in charge
of the park is based in Průhonice castle. Today, the park covers an area of almost 250 hectares, including almost
40 kilometres of footpaths. Together with the historical city centre of Prague, the park
is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The park is also listed in the International
Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) list of Historical gardens.
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Průhonice, https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Průhonice]