Škvorec Castle

Škvorec Chateau (Czech: zámek Škvorec; German: Schloss Squorz or Schkworetz) is a chateau, formerly a minor castle, located in small market town of Škvorec, Central Bohemia, about 23 kilometres (14 mi) east of Prague in the Czech Republic. The chateau, locally also known as the "Old Chateau" (Czech: Starý zámek), was indirectly first mentioned in historical sources in 1279, yet fully documented as late as since 1404. This Gothic castle was rebuilt during the 1520s into a Renaissance palace; but in 1639 – during the devastating Thirty Years' War – the premises were looted, burned and until 1710 laid in ruins. The chateau was restored then, this time in the Baroque style. Between 1860–1884 most of the compound was demolished (also due to the construction of local municipal school), leaving only the buildings in south-eastern corner.

In 2008 almost ruined remnants of the chateau were bought by a family of Russian-Italian immigrants which have gradually restored it and now promote a new name: the Savoia Castle (as an allusion of a noble family to which one of previous owners married – see below). New owners made the chateau partially accessible to the public in May 2016, since then there have been various cultural and commercial events here.

The founder, and maybe the builder too, was probably local noble Domaslav (Latin: Domaslaus de Squorz) around 1279, an important courtier and country official, the butler (1262) of Queen Kunigunda of Slavonia and her food taster (1263–69, 1279), Lord High Treasurer (1267–78) and one of the ten burgraves (Czech: pukrabí) of the Prague Castle. From the castle he built, only the deep well is now preserved, cut in the granite rock, which was situated near to the Early Gothic palace (on the site of present school building). The coat-of-arms of Domaslav of Škvorec, three vertical stripes, which cannot be found anywhere in central Bohemia later, proving that the castle must have passed to another noble family not long after. The names of the owners until after 1450 aren't known.

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Wikipedia