Kačina's unique chateau, as seen on TV

A ten-minute bus ride east of Sedlec - home of the notorious ossuary - is something just as bleached-white but far more engaging. Kačina is the former stately home of the Chotek family (whose most familiar member is Sophie, assassinated along with her husband Franz Ferdinand in 1914). In a country where almost every palace and mansion is baroque, Kačina is uniquely neoclassical: an Empire chateau, dating from the early 1800s.

It's a very pleasant visit, thanks to its proximity to Kutna Hora and Sedlec. (Buses run every hour from very near the ossuary to right outside the chateau, and you pay the small fare simply by tapping your credit or debit card on board.)

The grand rooms give an idea of what upper-class life was like in the last century, period billiard table and all. (It doesn't have pockets. Like the nobility who came here, presumably - they didn't need pockets because their wealth was beyond mere cash in hand.)

There's also a charming theatre that the nobs used to entertain their guests: this was out in the country, so no handy opera stage or playhouse.

The chateau's floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall library is a thing of wonder too, with thousands of books on all human subjects dating back to the 1400s. It also has extensive grounds that are a delight to walk or cycle round, and includes some productive vineyards. (Their white wine is excellent.)

Kačina is well-used as a TV and film location. A quick Google asserts that it has appeared in Apple TV's Foundation, Netflix's The Empress, Ballerina (John Wick Universe), The Brothers Grimm, The Cello, Knightfall and Emperor, among many others. No, I haven't seen any of those. But I've seen Kačina itself, and that'll do for me.

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