The castle in Ledeč nad Sázavou ranks among the oldest aristocratic residences in Bohemia and is the only preserved castle in the central Posázaví region.

The original castle with its tower, eastern palace and zwingers was renovated and gradually added to over the centuries in late Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles up to its present form. From the eastern side, the castle was protected by a deep, artificially dug moat, over which there was a wooden bridge, which was replaced by a stone one in 1838. The upper courtyard is dominated by an early Gothic cylindrical tower 32 m high. Over the centuries, the castle has had many owners from important noble families, such as the Ledecs of Říčany, the Lords of Lomnice, the Trtschka of Lípa, the Lobkovics, Adrian of Enkenfurt and the Thuns. The castle was then purchased by Empress Maria Theresa, who subsequently donated it to the Order of the Nobility in Prague at Hradčany. They then turned the Ledec castle and estate into a mere administrative centre. After a devastating fire in 1879, the castle could not be restored to its original appearance. The Theresian Institute of Nobility owned the Ledeč manor until the end of World War I, when the manor, including the castle, was taken over by the state. In 1948 the building became the property of the Administration of State Forests, Ledeč nad Sázavou Directorate. On 10 September 1948, an unrealised proposal was submitted for the possibility of constructing a new administrative building for the headquarters and using the castle as the museum of central Posázaví and the Želivka basin. In 1951 the building was definitively handed over to the Czechoslovak State Forests, whose property it remained until the 1990s.

The current owners of the castle are the company Hrad Ledeč nad Sázavou s.r.o., owned by the town of Ledeč nad Sázavou and the company KOVOFINIŠ s.r.o.

Photo: Ledeč nad Sázavou castle, archive Vysočina Tourism, m – ARK