Liběchov: Castle Garden, Rock Art and Architectural History

Liběchov offers cultural attractions from different periods and artistic traditions: an accessible castle garden, Václav Levý’s rock reliefs, historic castle buildings and religious architecture. A cycle route also passes through the town. When planning your visit, you can focus on garden art, sculpture, architectural history or cycling.

Castle Garden and Castle History

Liběchov’s accessible castle garden features garden vases and a waterfall by Václav Levý, as well as a statue of Perseus by Matyáš Braun. The castle grounds also include a symmetrically designed garden adorned with sculptures and an English-style park with three bridges and an artistically designed watercourse of the Liběchovka. This contrast shows two distinct design ideas within the castle grounds: symmetrical garden layout and an English-style park with bridges and a watercourse.

Most of the castle’s original circular water castle, dating from the 14th century, has been preserved. Between 1720 and 1730, F. M. Kaňka built a new building at Liběchov Castle. The building’s history thus spans from the medieval origins of the water castle to a later structure from the 18th century.

Klácelka: Cave, Portal and Reliefs

Klácelka refers both to a cave and to a sandstone block on which the sculptor Václav Levý carved reliefs in the 1840s. The cave entrance is designed as a rectangular portal framed with ornamentation and a draped arch. Inside are shallow rock reliefs depicting motifs from J. W. Goethe’s fable “Lišák Ferina,” based on designs by the French caricaturist Grandville.

The area in front of the cave is called Blaník. There, Levý carved reliefs of Jan Žižka, Prokop Holý, Zdeněk Zásmucký and dwarfs forging weapons for the Knights of Blaník. Distinguishing the fable motifs inside from the figures in the Blaník area outside helps you tell the relief groups apart by subject. The cave lies directly on a marked blue hiking trail, which can be a useful reference point if you want to combine a hike with an interest in Levý’s rock art.

Churches and Their Architectural Styles

The Church of St. Havel is a single-nave Baroque building dating from 1733–1734. It was created by rebuilding an older Gothic church. The church is accessible during Mass; if you plan to visit, check the Mass times locally.

The Chapel of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Sepulchre is a simple octagonal building with a dome and lantern. A rectangular nave was added to its west side in 1903. This date marks the extension and distinguishes it from the chapel’s original structure.

Harfenice and the Cycle Route Through Liběchov

Harfenice is a massive sandstone block featuring sculptures from 1841. These include a female figure with a harp, seven large human heads and the artificially hewn U ještěra cave. The interplay of sculptural forms and cave space makes Harfenice a different type of work from Klácelka, which is characterized by reliefs.

The “Labská vinařská stezka” cycle route passes through Liběchov. It is part of the interregional Labská trasa, which continues in Germany as the “Elbe Radweg.” It is also part of the international Praha–Berlín route (KČT 2), and thus of the European EuroVelo 7 route (North Cape–Malta). For your planning, the route through Liběchov and its connection to larger routes are two distinct points of reference.

Discover more destinations: Všestudy, Spomyšl, Želízy, Mělnické Vtelno, Medonosy, Nedomice, Vysoká, Dobřeň.

View the regional travel guide: Mělník District.