Komorov

Clasificación: Château
País: Chequia
Dirección: Chvalkovice 39, 683 41 Chvalkovice

The small village of Chvalkovice lies in the fertile landscape of the eastern part of the Vyškov district. Less than two kilometres from it, upstream along the Chvalkovice stream, stands the Empire-style Komorov Chateau, an immovable cultural monument. On the site of the chateau there formerly stood, in the pre-Hussite period, the village of Komárov (Komorov), first mentioned in the land registers in 1349. It was originally fragmented, but from 1376 Jaroš of Cimburg began buying up its individual parts. The Cimburg family then held the village until 1400, when Protivec of Zástřizl purchased it and permanently joined it to the Chvalkovice estate, whose seat was then on the nearby hill of Hradisko. In the 15th century the estate continued to belong to the knights of Zástřizl. In 1530 Jakeš Kobylka of Opatov purchased Chvalkovice with the ruined manor, the demesne farm, and the surrounding villages. After several changes of owner, in 1620 Jindřich Kořenský of Terešov became the owner. A new manor was built at Chvalkovice. The hamlet of Komorov was burned down by troops in 1645 and from 1661 was entirely deserted. In 1715 the restored settlement was struck by plague, as were the neighbouring Chvalkovice. Thereafter it is recorded as desolate. The sole functioning unit remaining was the demesne farm. In 1800 Jan Evangelista Pavel Pagatsch of Paburg purchased the estate. After a large part of Chvalkovice, including the manor, burned down on 2 September 1811, Pagatsch decided to build a new residence. The Empire-style chateau was erected in 1811–1812 beside the Komorov demesne farm. It was a single-storey rectangular building with a central projection and a low triangular gable. Simultaneously an English landscape park with rare trees was laid out. After Pagatsch his son Ernst inherited the chateau; he died without issue and the property passed to his nephew Wilhelm Wenin, who in 1871 sold it to Baron Eugen Poche-Lettmayer. In 1882 the chateau was acquired by the Klazar family, and after them in 1919 the Kobrč family, who used it as their residence. Before the land reform the Komorov estate covered 327 hectares. After the Communist regime came to power in 1948 the chateau passed to state farms. From 1960 it belonged to the Bučovice State Seed Farm and later served as an administrative building for an agricultural cooperative. It fell into rapid decay; in 1985 demolition was considered, prevented by the heritage protection authority. After 1990 Komorov was returned in restitution and subsequently changed owners several times. Only in 2020–2024, however, did the chateau undergo a comprehensive reconstruction, through which this historic building was saved. Work on the revitalisation of the English landscape park is currently beginning to be planned.