Castrov: Churches and Historic Architecture
Accommodation in Castrov
In Castrov, you’ll encounter religious, educational, and agricultural buildings from different periods. Alongside St. Nicholas Parish Church are an Art Nouveau school, a rectory with a farmyard, and two wayside shrines that differ markedly in age and design. The village is also associated with an annual pilgrimage tradition. Those interested in architecture and local history can identify the buildings by their forms and historical layers.
St. Nicholas Church: Gothic Core and Baroque Alterations
St. Nicholas Church is the parish church of Castrov and was founded around 1350. Its Gothic core and later Baroque alterations represent different stages in its architectural history. The church is a protected cultural monument; its register number is ĂšSKP 26993/3-2964. The tower has a distinctive architectural feature: the clocks are unusually arranged in its onion dome. This building brings together the function of a parish church, its historical development, and a striking detail of its tower design.
The School as an Art Nouveau Building
The two-storey school in Castrov was built in 1912–1913 in the Art Nouveau style. Its floor plan is T-shaped, with the central wing projecting into the garden. This design can be considered alongside the reliefs on its façade. Above the gable of the central risalit is a figurative relief depicting two seated young women, a book, and children. An owl relief is set in the tympanum of the entrance portal.
Risalit and tympanum refer to different parts of a façade: a risalit projects from the rest of the façade, while a tympanum is the decorated field in the area of a portal. Together with the T-shaped floor plan, the reliefs give the school several distinct architectural features. The building can be understood not only through its date and Art Nouveau style, but also through its floor plan and its human and animal motifs.
Two Wayside Shrines, Two Architectural Forms
The Late Gothic granite wayside shrine in Castrov dates from around 1500. Its slender lantern chapel is open on three sides and has so-called donkey-back arches. A pyramidal roof topped with a substantial stone cross crowns the chapel. The combination of granite, an open design, and distinctive arches clearly distinguishes this monument from another wayside shrine in the municipality.
The stone wayside shrine south of Castrov is Baroque. A column with entasis—that is, a slight swelling of the shaft—stands on a cuboid base. Its cushion capital supports a prismatic chapel. The Czech inscription on it is illegible. The two wayside shrines should therefore not be regarded as variations of the same structure: one is Late Gothic and made of granite, while the other is Baroque, built around a column and chapel.
Rectory, Farmyard, and Protected Park
The rectory with its farmyard stands near the church. It is a single-storey Neoclassical building dating from around 1800, with a mansard roof and adjoining farm buildings.
The Park u kostela is a registered significant landscape feature. It is subject to enhanced protection under the municipal development plan. Thus, in addition to buildings, the designation and protection of a landscape area are part of Castrov’s cultural and architectural character.
Pilgrimage Tradition in August
The First World War memorial was dedicated to the citizens on 5 July 1923. Since then, the NárodnĂ–letnĂ pouĹĄ has been held in Castrov on the first Sunday in August. If you’d like to plan your trip around this date, check the calendar in advance for the first Sunday in August that year. This lets you include the traditional celebration in your travel plans without mistaking its annual date for a fixed calendar day.
Discover more destinations: Křeč, Lhota-Vlasenice, Dubovice, Leškovice, Nový Rychnov, Vystrkov, Onšov, Vokov
For the broader travel overview: Pelhřimov District.
