Smidary: Castle, Baroque Art and the Cidlina

Smidary brings together castle and fortification history, Baroque art and various connections to the Cidlina for trip planning. If you would like to explore culture and landscape together, you will find specific features of the area here from different periods. You can choose your destination based on whether you are especially interested in historic buildings, archaeological traces, or the connection between the river and the cycle path.

Castle and Early History

Smidary Castle stands on the right bank of the Cidlina. A water fortress originally stood on its grounds, documented together with a farmstead in 1413. The masonry castle replaced the old fortress between 1810 and 1813. Two clearly distinct building phases are therefore central: the water fortress with its farmstead, and the later castle built of masonry. Learning about Smidary through its history allows you to trace the transformation of the castle grounds from an earlier fortification into a masonry castle.

Archaeological Traces

A circular moat remains from the former fortification in Smidary’s archaeological core. It is most clearly visible on the western side of the site. T-shaped cellar rooms have also been preserved beneath the northwestern part of the fortification. The two features differ in their form and location: the circular moat to the west, and the cellar rooms beneath the northwestern part. Together, they add archaeological remains to the history of the area, distinct from the castle’s architectural history.

Church and Baroque Art

The Church of St. Stanislav is a Late Baroque church dating from around 1749. Its ceiling paintings date from 1750 and are by J. Kramolín. The church’s approximate date and the year of the paintings are close, but refer to different features: the building itself and its ceiling paintings. Smidary thus offers both an architectural and an artistic date as points of reference for its cultural and historical context.

Another Baroque landmark is the Mariánský sloup ensemble, a column dating from 1718. In chronological terms, this date precedes that of the church and its ceiling paintings. The dates for the column, church and paintings provide a concise reference to three specific years or periods: 1718, around 1749 and 1750. This makes it possible to place several Baroque works in Smidary individually, rather than grouping them together as a general cultural theme.

The Cidlina, Cycle Path and Railway

The Cidlina is reflected in two different features of Smidary: the castle stands on the river’s right bank, and the protected area in the center includes the last surviving remnant of a meandering stretch of the Cidlina. The castle’s riverside location and the surviving river course describe different aspects of the area. If you are interested in both historic buildings and landscape features while traveling, these two connections to the river offer different points of interest.

The cycle path and railway are also specific aspects to consider when planning a trip. Cycle Route 4284 passes through Smidary. Railway line 040 between Chlumec nad Cidlinou and Nová Paka has a local station in Smidary. If you are planning to travel by train, check the current timetable in advance. The line number gives you a specific reference for this check; the cycle path offers a separate local reference for planning a trip by bicycle.

Discover more destinations: Světí, Černožice, Myštěves, Předměřice Nad Labem, Běleč Nad Orlicí, Dolní Přím, Zdechovice, Mokrovousy.

For the broader travel overview: Okres Hradec Králové.