Oselce: Baroque Heritage, Chapels and Routes

Oselce is a destination for you if you want Baroque buildings, local traditions and practical route options to shape your trip. The castle is the main attraction, along with chapels, a small motorcycle exhibition, cycling routes and local traditions. Other places of architectural and historical interest are in Kotouň and near Nová Ves. When planning your visit, bear in mind that access to St Margaret’s Chapel is only possible occasionally, even though the green-marked hiking trail from Oselce is about one kilometre long.

Castle and Chapels

The Baroque castle in Oselce was built in 1680 on the site of an earlier fortress. Antonio de Maggi remodelled it between 1707 and 1737. The dates refer to different stages: 1680 marks its construction, while the period from 1707 to 1737 refers to the later remodelling. The castle includes a chapel with a ceiling fresco depicting Bohemian patron saints. This brings together its history as a fortress site, Baroque architecture and a religious subject in the artwork. To understand its history, it is worth considering the construction and remodelling separately; the fresco adds a specific decorative feature to the building’s history.

Markétin vrch and Local Tradition

The Baroque Chapel of St Margaret stands northwest of Oselce on the 662-metre-high Markétin vrch; it was built in 1691. From Oselce, the chapel can be reached via a green-marked hiking trail about one kilometre long. Access is only possible occasionally, so check in advance if you are planning your visit around the chapel. There is also a memorial lime tree on the path to Markétin vrch, with a trunk circumference of 525 cm. The hilltop chapel and the lime tree beside the path are two distinct local landmarks.

The niche chapel known as Kloubovka stands in the forest above Kotouň. A spring rises inside it, and local tradition attributes healing effects to its water, particularly for joint and limb pain. This should be understood as part of local tradition, not as a medical claim.

Kotouň and Nová Ves

The parish Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Kotouň was built between 1703 and 1705 on the site of a church that burned down in 1475. The church complex includes a surviving ossuary and a low Baroque bell tower dating from 1696. The dates relate to different parts of the area’s history: 1475 marks the fire that destroyed the earlier church, 1696 the bell tower, and 1703–1705 the construction of the parish church. This makes the chronological sequence of the buildings easier to follow without conflating them into a single phase of construction.

Čertův hrad is a chapel beside a pond east of Nová Ves, on the road to Nezdřev. A local legend links the site to boulders supposedly left behind by the devil. Here, local orientation is shaped not only by the building but also by a story, setting the site apart from Kotouň’s dated church buildings.

Exhibition, Cycling Routes and Local Traditions

The Muzeum motorek v Oselcích is a small exhibition of historic motorcycles on the ground floor of Oselce’s municipal office. It displays Jawa and ČZ motorcycles. This technical subject sits alongside the architectural history of the castle, chapels and churches.

Cycling Route 2046 passes through Oselce and runs mainly along designated routes and local roads. Cycling Route 2161 passes through Nová Ves and follows road III/1882. For the first route, the road types are specified; for the second, a specific road designation is given. Signposting and surface conditions can change, so check both before setting out on a cycling trip.

The Oselecká pouť is a recurring local tradition; it took place in 2024 and 2025. On 1 January 2025, Oselce held a New Year’s walk with fireworks; on 1 January 2026, it held a New Year’s walk. If you want to plan your trip around an event, check the date for your travel year.

Discover more destinations: Soběkury, Louňová, Řenče, Neurazy, Nová Ves U Plzně, Životice, Přestavlky U Dnešic, Dolce

For the broader travel overview: Plzeň-Jih.