In the heart of the Czech Pardubice region, halfway between Prague and the Slovak border, the small town of Litomyšl harbours one of Central Europe's most extraordinary architectural treasures. Litomyšl Castle, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, is the finest surviving example of the arcaded Renaissance country residence in the Czech Lands and arguably one of the most beautiful sixteenth-century buildings north of the Alps. Its sgraffito-covered facades, intimate courtyards, and a hidden Baroque theatre conspire to create a building that feels less like a museum and more like a love letter from Italy to Bohemia.
Although the town itself dates from the late tenth century and developed along a vital trading route between Bohemia and Moravia, the castle as visitors know it today is the legacy of one ambitious aristocrat: Vratislav of Pernštejn, the chancellor of the Kingdom of Bohemia and a courtier with a pronounced taste for Italian culture. Having married a Spanish noblewoman from the cosmopolitan circles of Madrid, Vratislav wished to provide his bride with a residence that would feel familiar in elegance yet distinctively Bohemian in spirit.
