Přerov Chateau

This Renaissance chateau dominates the Přerov Urban Conservation Area and is the seat of the Comenius Museum, the oldest of its kind in the world.

A hill fort stood at the site in the 11th and 12th centuries, occupying the whole area of the current Upper Square. Fundamental redevelopment was carried out by Vilém II of Pernštejn, who bought the Přerov domain in 1487 and ordered the construction of a Late-Gothic castle consisting of a two-storey palace with a chapel and a round tower of refuge, which became an important element of the town’s fortifications. In the 2nd half of the 16th century, the castle was rebuilt into a renaissance chateau with three wings and irregular oblong courtyard. The chateau was separated from the neighbouring houses by a deep dry moat, preserved to this day, which could be crossed over a drawbridge suspended on pulleys. The chateau’s interiors and exteriors remained virtually intact until the early 19th century, and by the end of the 19th century, the chateau was no longer used for residential purposes. There were offices there, as well as some classes of Přerov schools, and for a time, it was used as a prison. The chateau has been the property of the town of Přerov since 1918, which made extensive redevelopment of the interiors between 1927 and 1930, adapting them into museum exhibitions and a depository. The Comenius Museum was relocated to the chateau in the early 1930s and is still there today.

The museum preserves rare exhibits in its collections of mineralogy, entomology, and archaeology, as well as documents relating to the life and work of John Amos Comenius, complemented by period reconstructions of classrooms. There is also an exhibition of Haná ethnography and a display of bells made by the world-renowned workshop of the Dytrych family from the nearby village of Brodek u Přerova.