Season at Humprecht started in a limited mode due to repairs

Sobotka - The tourist season has begun at the castle Humprecht near Sobotka in the Jičín region. Today, more than a hundred people visited the castle, which is a national cultural monument. It is open in a limited capacity due to reconstruction. The offerings will gradually expand, said castle manager Dagmar Faměrová to ČTK today. The reconstruction started in April 2021, and the construction phase costing approximately 47 million crowns is expected to be completed by the end of July. The end of the entire project is planned for December 2023. Humprecht has been owned by the town since the 1930s.

"So far, about 150 people have visited us today. Considering that we have only opened the ground floor and it's the beginning of the season, that's quite decent," Faměrová told ČTK at 2:00 PM.

On the ground floor of the castle, visitors can access the black kitchen, the entrance exhibition, the libraries, the castle office, and the dining hall. Due to complications in completing the general reconstruction of the castle, Humprecht will be open for pre-booked groups in a limited capacity, starting today from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, every full hour and half past the hour, the castle administrators stated.

"As we progress with the handover of additional spaces from the general contractor, we will expand the visitor circuit and offer more guided tours. The castle will be accessible this way from Tuesday to Sunday; it will be closed on Mondays. Completing the reconstruction will likely require additional closing days, which we will inform in advance," the castle administrators stated on the website.

The castle manager expects that by August, most of the castle could be accessible. "This year we start with the ground floor. From August 1st, we aim to conduct tours in almost the entire castle, including the first floor, the observation terrace, and the tower. The new exhibition on the second floor will not be accessible until the end of 2023," Faměrová told ČTK.

The castle as a whole is expected to welcome its first visitors at the end of this year, during the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve.

The ground floor of the castle was opened to the public during the summer holidays of 2022, attracting about 15,000 visitors over the summer. "In two months, that seems very good to me," Faměrová said. According to her, prior to the reconstruction, the annual visitor count was around 35,000 people.

After the reconstruction, the castle will resemble its appearance from the 1920s. The total costs for the castle's repair, including furnishing, are estimated by the castle manager to be around 50 million crowns. Approximately 90 percent of the costs will be covered by a European grant from IROP. Costs have slightly increased during the work due to the impacts of rising energy prices, construction work, inflation, and additional work, said representatives of the castle.

The castle was built in the style of early Baroque with elements of late Renaissance and Mannerism by the Italian architect Carlo Lurago between 1666 and 1668 as a summer and hunting residence for Count Humprecht Jan Czernin of Chudenice. In 1678, the castle caught fire. It was repaired within two years, enlarged by one floor, and has retained nearly the same appearance since 1680. On the first floor, there is a 16-meter-high dining hall with remarkable acoustics, and on the second floor, there is an observation terrace.