Usually the name Troy is associated with the city, which, as everyone knows, was ravaged by the Achaeans. Well, the blind man Homer sang this act of violence and vandalism in poetry that spoiled the mood of more than one schoolboy who studied the Greek classics. I thought so too, until I ended up in the city of Prague, which also has its own Troy, and this is just one of those places where it makes sense to visit if you came to this city.
Here it is - Troy Castle in all its glory from the side of the park.
And it so happened that I got to Prague as part of a tourist group by bus, and all tourist groups begin their acquaintance with Prague from what? Yes, yes, from a visit to its historical center, that is, Prague Castle with the residence of the President of the Republic, from where everyone leads you down and down to the Charles Bridge, and beyond it - to the Old Town Square with the famous tower clock, which we know from the film about Electronics probably everything.
Facade on the left.
There are crowds of people, and whoever is not there. A procession of Arabs in long open limousines (!) With their women, wrapped from head to toe, was striking - "people make way, a lot of money is coming!" Somehow I also did not notice “pomaded gays” (about which some of our “writers on VO” are so fond of writing), however, I am not a fan of wandering among the mass of people, like my whole family. There is no time for beauty and not for monuments, when under your feet every childish "trifle" is teeming with, and tourists of the same height are bursting with a wall. They say that this year more people came to Prague than to London, Paris and Berlin, and that it turned into a real "Mecca of European tourism" and it could be believed. In short (a buzzword, especially for young VO readers!), We consulted, left our group to sail on the steamer Vlatva, and decided to go to the zoo - the second largest among other European zoos and excellently arranged. "So there is also a castle there!" - made me happy in a travel agency and it outweighed everything.
Main staircase. Well, no matter how hard you try, some of the tourists will definitely get into the frame.
You need to get there from the center by metro on the red line, and then by bus # 112. Interestingly, there are no turnstiles and barriers in the Prague metro, not to mention the riot police with dogs. In principle, you don't have to buy a ticket or punch a ticket at all (it seems like we were the only one who did it!), And all the others went out and went in before our very eyes! True, they say there are controllers on the buses, and tickets are sold … on time! The longer you go, the more expensive! That being said, it is best to buy them at newsagents. Neither we, nor the Germans who were standing there, nor the British did it with machine guns. Probably, this is a purely Czech device, foreigners do not like it.
This sculptural group is located at the bottom of the opening between both wings of the staircase, which has the shape of the letter "O".
The zoo is really very good, but it goes beyond the subject of VO, so there is no point in talking about it, but the "castle", which turned out to be a very beautiful palace, has a relation to it, albeit indirectly. Moreover, it is very easy to find it. It is located directly opposite the entrance / exit from the Prague Zoo grounds.
On the ground floor, there are sculptures that once adorned this castle, but removed from the pedestals due to … wear and tear!
And their problem is the same as that of the sculptures of the world-famous Dresden Art Gallery. The limestone, from which they are made here and there, gives off iron, which oxidizes on the surface, well, the way it oxidizes on the halves of an apple cut with a knife. That is why all the old sculptures are dirty black.
Then the effect of sulfur oxides is added, water freezes in the cracks in winter and they expand, and the stone is gradually "grinded", as if it were processed with a sandblaster. Therefore, the statues are periodically removed and … copies of them are made, which are placed in their original place. This process goes on continuously. One generation of statues succeeds another, and generations of masters are replaced in the same way. And the material of the statues cannot be replaced with something else! After all, it is also … jobs!
One of the vases that has migrated to the museum halls on the ground floor from the park due to wear and tear.
Let's remember that at first the castles were fortified dwellings of medieval feudal lords, that is, they, the poor, had to live among gloomy casemates and with a minimum of amenities. But as mores softened and the slow ascent to civilization, windows began to cut through the castles, their towers were adorned with various curls, and beautiful statues appeared in the surrounding parks.
Painted ceiling in the hallway.
That is, the funds invested in the war and robbery, as well as in the robbery of the unfortunate, constantly suffering peasants, the gentlemen who owned them invested (again, in a modern way!) In real estate. And today we admire this real estate, and, by and large, that someone there because of this was once straining to us absolutely all the same - the main thing is that we see beautiful monuments of architecture, sculpture and painting in front of us. And in the castle of Troy (and this object is really called that, although it is not a castle at all!) All this is present and you can admire and admire all of this!
In addition to the beauty of the ceilings in the castle, you should pay attention to the chandeliers!
And it so happened that this building in an estate near Prague was ordered by a certain Vaclav Vojtech Sternberk from 1678 to 1685. The author of the project and the head of the construction of the castle was the French architect Jean-Baptiste Matei, who had previously worked in Italy for some time. The new castle was conceived as an Italian Baroque villa for special celebrations and simply for relaxation. Moreover, both the architect and the customer worked on it together, and, of course, they looked at the Prague Castle, dominating the horizon, and dreamed of making them no worse.
Coat of arms of the Sternberk family.
It is interesting that modern access roads, as well as the entrance through which tourists enter the territory of this monument today, did not originally exist. The only road led to the front of the castle through the park. On the front side of the castle, they were met by a monumental staircase, similar in plan to the letter "O", lavishly decorated with statues of various ancient gods and titans, completed at the very end of construction in 1685. The authors of this plastic composition were sculptors from Dresden Georg and Paul Hermann. By the way, it is quite possible that it was the antique motif in the design of this staircase that influenced the choice of the name for the castle - Troy.
Stunning murals in the Great Hall.
This staircase leads to the Great Hall (today the entrance is on the back side), the walls of which are decorated with frescoes. In chronological order, the last contribution to the decorative concept of the residence was the three "Chinese salons" added in the second quarter of the 18th century. The preserved catalog of the collection, presented in 1770, describes 315 objects in the corridors and halls …
For example, this baroque cabinet …
… or this bureau.
Recently, the entire complex has undergone significant reconstruction for further use by the Prague City Gallery, which occupied the entire territory, including the garden. The main building and its adjoining stables serve as venues for seasonal exhibitions, concert performances and other cultural and social functions.
And this is what the park looks like.
The park with a central alley was also designed by Jean-Baptiste Matei, and the alley goes to the castle from the southern, once the most important, gate. And if you draw a straight line along it towards the Prague Castle visible in the distance, then it will reach … the tower of the Cathedral of St. Vita. These are the symbols laid down in the planimetry of this park.
These are not sculptures. This is an illusion painting of the walls of the Main Hall, which was very popular at the same time in Italy.
Naturally, the most welcome guests in this castle were the companies of hunters who took part in the imperial hunts in the reserved forests (now it is the largest Prague Stromovka park), since in the 17th century noble hunters in the reserve simply had nowhere to rest and gain strength. It was this circumstance that gave Count Sternberk the hope that Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg would definitely visit his castle during the hunt. It is clear that the count tried to flatter his master in every possible way, but the apotheosis of his veneration for the ruling dynasty was the decoration of the main hall of this castle. What did he do for this? And here's what: reflected the tribute of the Habsburg dynasty to the Christian faith. In the left corner were the figures of the apostles Peter and Paul. On the right, there is a scene where the personified Austrian multinational Monarchy represents the Christian Faith and the keys to the cities and fortresses that it conquered in the wars. In the eastern part of the ceiling fresco in the center, among the clouds, the figure of Saint Leopold is visible, surrounded by angels. Beneath it stands the figure of King Jan Sobieski from Poland with a drawn sword in his right hand and a large "Mohammedan" green flag on the left. Here we see the figure of the Evangelist Mark, the patron saint of Venice, rising to the figure of Vera with a tray of keys to all the cities and fortresses conquered by the Venetian Republic at sea.
The fashion for everything oriental brought such wall paintings to life …
Accordingly, the temple of the god Janus is depicted above the upper part of the western wall, guarded by three figures symbolizing the peaceful union of the Holy Roman Empire with Poland and Venice. Below this stage is a depiction of a scene that is a tribute to the winner of the Turkish wars, Emperor Leopold I, accompanied by Count Esterberk.
The eastern wall depicts the legend of the origin of the Babenberg coat of arms with a white horizontal stripe on a red shield. According to legend, he was provided by Emperor Konrad to the Duke of Adalbero, who conveyed to him the news of the victory over the Saracens right from the battlefield, dressed in bloody clothes, which only remained white under the belt. Seated on a throne above the fireplace, Justice is surrounded by allegorical figures of vices: Injustice, Rage, Adventurism and Ignorance.
The longer walls of the hall have an illusory balcony at the top with lush and detailed scenes from the history of the Habsburg house: on the north side, Philip's wedding with John of Aragon is shown; on the south wall there is a scene in which Charles V renounces the title of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in favor of his brother Ferdinand I and presents him with the insignia of the Grand Master of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
Here it is - the Order of the Golden Fleece! Handsome, isn't it? Hluboka nad Vltavou Castle Museum.
It is not surprising that this hall is called the Habsburg Hall, and it is the only example of Baroque painting of this scale. In Central Europe there is no equal to him either in topic, or in volume, or in embodiment. For Count Sternberk, this painting for six years (completed only in 1697) was carried out by the brothers Abraham and Isaac Godin from Antwerp. They, like the architect Matei, studied painting in Italy and had appropriate references from Italian artisan agents. The natives of Italy were the father and son of F. and G. Marchetti, the authors of the ceiling frescoes on the second floor.
Chapel of St. The cross is also extremely interesting for its frescoes. The ceiling fresco in the chapel of the castle is dominated by the figure of God the Father, surrounded by angels. St. The cross is carried by a winged female figure, probably personifying the Christian religion. A dove hovers over her head - the Holy Spirit. In the corners there are portraits of four evangelists: Matthew with an angel; Luke with the sacrificial animal; Stamp with a lion; John with an eagle. Here is the image of the Goddess of Eternity, who gave birth to Faith; and a nude male figure, a symbol of love for God the Father; and a young girl with a ring of flowers and a lamb representing Innocence. In a series of easel paintings depicted on the walls, scenes from the Passion of Christ are presented. Above the altar is Christ on the Mount of Olives, and the remaining large paintings show scenes of the scourging of Christ, the coronation of Christ and Christ falling under the cross. The smaller paintings show scenes from the Passion of Christ, namely: the arrest of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane; mockery of Christ; soldiers sharing the clothes of Christ (here they are shown with dice); burial of Christ, the appearance of Christ to the disciples; Christ giving the bread as his body to Peter; Christ before Pilate; and Christ's rejection of Peter. Like the frescoes on the ceiling, these easel paintings were also created by the painter Marchetti.
The carved benches are part of the chapel's original furnishings.
To receive guests, as in Roman villas, only the second floor of the castle served, the so-called “piano nobile” - “noble peace”. The first floor was not intended for display, and therefore it was decorated with home artists, their names have not survived. The creators of the Chinese rooms, which are evidence of fashion and taste at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, also remained in obscurity.
Wooden secretaire inlaid with precious woods.
To create a pleasant atmosphere for visitors to the castle, Count Sternberk, in addition to eminent painting masters, also invited wine specialists. And right on the slope behind the castle, vineyards were laid (they have survived to this day!) With a winery, which, like the chapel, bear the name of his wife Clara from Malzan.
View from the window to the main alley. Some of the vases, as you can see, are still brand new.
Well, the castle acquired its modern look thanks to a comprehensive reconstruction carried out in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century. The new manager of the newly opened castle is the City Gallery of Prague, which exhibits part of its collections here and, in the spirit of Count Sternberk's intentions, organizes concerts in the castle and in the park, as well as other cultural events, including for children, which have already become traditional here. By the way, this castle is also attractive because many Czech and foreign historical films were filmed here.
Another view from the window …
In general, you will be in Prague, and you will have time - go and see the "Troy castle". You will not regret!
P. S. This is the first material among the articles planned for publication about the sights of the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany. Naturally, there will be castles, knights and their armor - well, how can we do without it? Of course, there will be my favorite effigies, quite a bit of politics (you can't do without it either!), And a lot of other things. So take a look at VO, don't forget your site! Unfortunately, it is impossible to give these articles strictly sequentially and they will appear as possible, and in my mood. For this, dear sirs, do not exact. All the time to write about the same thing, of course, is not at all interesting.
