USOV CASTLE ~ A quietly domineering castle with a petting zoo

It is one of the oldest North Moravian castles built in the style of a French castel in 13th c.

t was partly rebuilt into a chateau at the end of the 17th century. In 1898, the original owners of the castle, the family of Lichtenstein, founded a Museum for Forestry and Hunting, which contains a unique collection of its kind in Central Europe.

The country side is scattered with different coloured farmlands

LOCATION

https://goo.gl/maps/AkUA4Gphz13qQNXy6

We watched the sun set from the moat sitting on top of the railings – we were the only ones there! Was so nice

The beautiful colours of the countryside

The foyer and entrance to the castle – a small ticket room with postcards was on the left as we entered

The view of the inner courtyard as we entered in from the gate

The underground labyrinth

The inner courtyard with the main newer part of the castle on the left

The castle was damaged during the Swedish occupation in 1643 – in 1692-1699 was reconstructed

There was a large playground area around the castle and it was made for activities for kids which was nice as it would be a fun day out for families

The Hunting and Forestry Museum – The castle houses a museum, which was founded here by Prince of Liechtenstein in 1898 – contains a unique collection of trophies from Liechtenstein expeditions from around the world, stuffed animals, insects, minerals, hunting weapons and other things

There is about 10,000 exhibits and it is the largest museum of its kind in central europe

Presence of the Jews in the town was first documented in 1564. The Jewish quarter was established in 1589. In 1609, the community warranted its first rabbi. However, in 1643, the developing community was affected by the invasion of Swedish troops, which caused many loss of life.