THE PALACE
OF PRINCES
The palace forms a part of the chateau of Ostrov and it is an outstanding feature of the chateau park one cannot miss. Its construction was begun by the Saxon-Lauenburg duke Julius Jindřich in 1685 and it was finished by his daughter Franziska Sybilla Augusta with her husband Ludwig Wilhelm, margrave of Baden, in 1696. The building was carried out by their courtyard builder Johann Sockh. There were originally three wings of the building, and the palace used to be connected to the chateau and the White gate. After the fire of 1795 the western wing disappeared and the courtyard became an open space towards the park. The massive staircase leads up to a water parterre with decorative fountains and pools. One of the most remarkable discoveries of the architects were the remains of Dianna´s bath – a Baroque pool located at the basement of the southern part of the building. In the 17th century, it was a luxurious bath which could only be found in the wealthiest manors of emperors of that time. The remains have been conserved and nowadays it is not possible to see them. As a reminder, you can admire the uncovered ceiling painting of Goddess Dianna in the children´s department of the town´s library which has its seat here. The reconstruction cost nearly 63 million crowns. The palace became the building of the year for 2012 for the Karlovy Vary region.
Open to the public at specific times
Seat of the Town´s library and the town´s chronicle
Orangery of Václav Havel – space for exhibitions, concerts and presentation events