Melnik Chateau – A Castle, or Bohemia’s First Winery?
After a 50-km drive north from Prague, and a short walk up a slope, we passed through a quaint narrow alley. It opened out into a town square of a typical baroque town. As I took in the scenic locale, the advertising professional in me spotted a film crew shooting an ad film. Our guide further filled us in that Melnik is Czechia’s significant agrarian area that provides fresh fruits and vegetables, besides beet, sugar, and wine to the country. For any ad film on organic produce or a product with a vegetable/fruit base, Melnik will be the choice.
To the left of the square, a tall tower filled our sight. We learnt it was the Church Tower of St Peter and St Paul Church that faces the Melnik Castle. How tall? Check out the girls and the dial of the clock (image below), and you’ll get an idea. For decades, you could not climb the Church Tower. But that’s opened up since 2007.
Melnik Chateau – A Brief History
A sumptuous traditional lunch in a town-square cafe later, we made our way to the Castle. On approaching the entrance, we learnt the chateau was first built in the 9th century in wood. It was at the end of the 10th century that the Lobcowicz family redid the mansion in stone. The architectural style journey of this historic castle started with Romanesque in stone, followed by Gothic style, and then Baroque style in the 16th century. This Baroque structure is what we see today.
Legend has it that Ludmila raised her grandson Wenceslaus I, the Duke of Bohemia, who was assassinated at the young age of 24. He came to be known as St Wenceslaus later. Wenceslaus learnt how to cultivate grapes and make wine here. In fact, Ludmila planted the first grapevines in the region and started the first Bohemian winery around 915 CE.
The last heiress of the estate, Marie Ludmila, married Augustus Antonín Josef Lobcowicz in 1753. Since then, the chateau has been with the Lobcowicz family, except between 1948 and 1992 when the communist regime took it away.
Inside Melnik Chateau
Lobcowicz Family’s living quarters are on the first and second floors of the chateau. While we toured the area, it was a ‘no photography zone’. Of the rooms in the residential wing, there are a few of note. Like the bedroom of George Lobcowicz who died racing his Bugatti in Berlin. Besides a cabinet full of trophies and his portraits, the most outstanding piece of furniture is his massive four-poster bed.
Another couple of rooms have shields, coats of armour, and more on display. In fact, you can look behind to see how they assembled a suit of armour. A gigantic concert hall on the second floor is furnished with huge round tables and can seat a hundred people. Family portraits and wall and ceiling murals here are breathtaking. The staircases exhibit glass-fronted gun cases, and the walls alongside have at least a hundred mounted antler trophies.
Melnik Chateau Wine Cellar and Vineyard
The basement beneath the chateau is a wine cellar. With the family vineyards in the chateau estate and elsewhere in the region, the winery here distils about 250,000 bottles every year. Not a large winery, but the wines are distinctive and premium. During a tour, don’t miss out on a wine-tasting session here. That will start your love affair with Czech wines.
The chateau sits at the confluence of two rivers – Elbe (Labe) and the Vltava. A road between the chateau and the church leads you there. The sloping estate behind the chateau is a vineyard that belongs to the Lobcowicz family. It extends from the top of the hill to the riverbank beneath. The vines here are descendants of the grapevines planted by King Charles IV in the 14th century!
With royalty, tradition, nature, agriculture, and wine, Melnik town paints a pretty picture, made prettier with trademark Central European, nay, Bohemian countryside. If you seek a day trip from Prague, don’t overlook Melnik. It will not disappoint you!
