ARCHBISHOP'S CASTLE (ARCIBISKUPSKÝ ZÁMEK)

This summer residence of the Olomouc archbishops from the 13th century is the highlight of any visit to Kroměříž. Its Baroque style, beautifully enhanced by the neighboring gardens, the flower garden and the castle garden, sits elegantly in the heart of the city. In the course of its history, the residence was transformed into a monumentally designed four-winged castle by the Italian architects Lucchese and Tencalla, after being severely damaged by Swedish troops during the Thirty Years' War. It is dominated by an 84 m high tower and its rooms are more amazing than the others. Many of them underwent extensive restoration work after the damage inflicted by the fire of 1752, which ravaged much of the city. One of them, the Czar's Hall, was used by Alexander II of Russia for a meeting with the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph in 1885. Another, the Constitution Hall, was the site of the first national assembly of Austria-Hungary during the 1848 Revolution. As for the library, it is a magical place with 90,000 books and a collection of globes. Above all, don't forget the Pinakothek and its exhaustive collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings (including works by Titian, Van Dyck, Rubens and Brueghel): it is the second most important collection of paintings in the country. Like its adjoining garden, the castle has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1998.