Hukvaldy Gallery

Hukvaldy

Hukvaldy Castle – or the largest castle ruin in Moravia – rears up at the highest cascades of the vast Hukvaldy game preserve at 600 m. a.s.l. Today the game preserve spreads over 440 ha of forests. Its forestation started in 1568. Towards the end of the 19th century the original beech forest was complemented with precious tree species: elms, Weymouth pines, red oaks and hickories. If you enter this natural preserve through a Baroque gate at the upper end of the Hukvaldy square you can walk along a road lined with chestnut trees which will lead you to the castle. In spring the chestnut blossoms resemble burning candles. You may find that the forests are most beautiful in autumn when the massive leafy trees revel in a breathtaking palette of colours. In 1967 Prince Abdor Réza Páhlaví, brother of the Shah of Iran, shot down a mouflon in this preserve. You can also go hunting without weapons and feast your eyes on flocks of hundreds of mouflons, fallow deer and wild boars, or admire the view of the whole range of the Moravian-Silesian Beskydy from the castle bastions.

The Hukvaldy game preserve featuring an amphitheatre and the premises of the Hukvaldy castle are also the location of the traditional International Music Festival of Janáček’s Hukvaldy. The castle founded in the middle of the 13th century hosts many various events throughout the whole year. The village is very popular with visitors not only thanks to the magnificent castle complex but also because of the Leoš Janáček Monument under the management of the Czech Music Fund. To the left hand side behind the Baroque St. Maximilian Church you can find the actual House of Birth of Leoš Janáček. Today, it houses the local Information Centre. The neighbouring Hukvaldy Gallery houses works of contemporary artists who drew inspiration not only in this region.