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There is a magical place in South Bohemia. You walk or drive along a river and suddenly you feel like you are in England, more precisely at Windsor. You check the map, make sure that the river is the Vltava and you are still in Bohemia. Yet the outlines of the castle you see before you look remarkably like the Royal Castle of Windsor near London! That’s because you have arrived at Hluboká, where the aristocratic Schwarzenberg family built one of their family seats in the neo-Gothic style.

There is a castle in Moravia with a history like few others in Central Europe. Špilberk was built in the Middle-Ages on a hill overlooking Brno, the second largest city in the Czech Republic. It was a strategic fortress and later prison whose significance went beyond the regional boundaries of what is now Czechia.

The Great Synagogue in the West Bohemian city of Pilsen is not only the biggest synagogue in the Czech Republic, but also the third biggest in the world, after the temples in Jerusalem and Budapest. This month, the monumental Moorish-Romanesque building celebrates 125 years of its existence.

There is a small hill near Olomouc in the center of Moravia. On top of the hill, there is a magnificent complex of Baroque buildings around the Pilgrimage Basilica Of Our Lady. Most people know the place simply as „Holy Hill“. It is under the spiritual administration of the Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré, also known as the Norbertines. Vít Pohanka visited Father Ambrož Šámal of the order to find out more about this popular pilgimage site.

There are two very good reasons why you should visit Lipnice. The small town, lying south-east of Prague, is dominated by a romantic castle that is a favorite setting for international filmmakers. It was also the last home of Jaroslav Hašek, the author of Good Soldier Švejk, the most translated novel by any Czech writer.

The Czech Republic is known for its beautiful historic sights, picturesque cities and towns, chateaux, and castles. Few foreign visitors realize that the country has also numerous natural wonders. One of them is Moravian Karst with its famous Macocha Abyss and over 1000 caverns and gorges.

Central Europe abounded in thriving Jewish communities for many centuries. They were frequently a target of official discrimination and had to try very hard to carve out their place in societies that were often hostile to their culture and religion. But there are many examples of peaceful coexistence of the Jewish diaspora in the predominantly Catholic Czechia. One of them can be found in the heart of the Highlands region.

Thinking of an interesting way to discover Czech culture beyond Prague, away from the traditional tourist hotspots? Litomyšl might be just the place for you. This small town in Eastern Bohemia with its castle is one of the sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

There is a place in the south-east of Czechia that will strongly remind you of London or the Royal Palace of Windsor. Surprised? That might be understandable, but the fact is that the romantic ideas of the English Gothic Revival or neo-Gothic architecture traveled far and wide in continental Europe. Lednice Chateau in South Moravia, very close to the Austrian border, is a prime example of such architectural ideas easily moving from the British Isles to the heart of Central Europe.

The official residence of Czech prime ministers, the Kramář Villa overlooks the Vltava from a wonderful vantage point between Prague Castle and Letná Plain. It was built in the 1910s by Karel Kramář, who himself served as the first prime minister of Czechoslovakia following its foundation a century ago this year. However, the politician had already been extremely well-known prior to 1918, guide Irena Saidlová told me at the Kramář Villa.