The Ratibořice Château

The Ratibořice State Château is located in the Kladsko Borderlands near Česká Skalice. The château with the Babiččino údolí, Staré bělidlo and Rudra Mill is inseparably linked to the Babička novel written by Božena Němcová. The first written record of the existence of an aristocratic residence in Ratibořice dates back to 1388. Between 1702 and 1708, Lorenzo Prince Piccolomini had a Baroque château built in Ratibořice to serve as a summer and hunting residence. It was designed after the model of Italian summer houses, as a so-called ‘casino’. In 1800 Ratibořice Château was inherited by Katherine Bedřiška Vilemína Benigna Duchess of Zaháň, Princess of Kuron, i.e., the Duchess of the ‘Babička’, who chose it as her summer residence. She had the château rebuilt in the classical and empire style. The Duchess hosted a number of important personalities at the château, such as Austrian Chancellor Metternich, Russian Tsar Alexander I, and in 1813 she lent the Ratibořice Château to diplomats from Prussia, Russia and Austria for secret negotiations on the anti-Napoleonic coalition. The château was then owned by German families until it was nationalised in 1945. Today, together with other buildings in the Babiččino údolí, it is administered by the National Heritage Institute. You can explore Ratibořice Château through several tours, including tours for children accompanied by the princess’ ward, the Countess Hortenzie.