Historic palm greenhouse returns to its place at Valeč Castle

In September 2026, the palm greenhouse at Valeč Castle returned to its historic spot — one of the estate's most striking structures. Its iron framework, topped with a dome, weighs around 15 tonnes, and the dome itself stands roughly 15 metres tall.

In early 2023 the greenhouse was completely dismantled and taken to a restoration workshop in Litomyšl. The restoration took almost four years, during which about 80 percent of the original structure was preserved — the most damaged parts were replaced with exact replicas. The trickiest part was working with the non-standard cast-iron and wrought-iron elements, most of which are joined by hand riveting.

A journey from Vienna to western Bohemia

The greenhouse was built by the Vienna firm Rudolph Philip Waagner. It went up in 1891 next to the Vienna palace of Count Vincent Thurn-Valsassina. When the count expanded the palace with a new wing a few years later, the structure had to make way for the building work — it was taken apart, shipped to western Bohemia, and reassembled at Valeč in 1895.

The greenhouse is part of the castle's historic garden, laid out during a major renovation of the estate at the end of the 19th century, and it has long been one of the landmarks around the castle grounds.

Glazing of the restored structure is due to be finished by spring 2027. After that, the greenhouse will once again be filled with ornamental plants modelled on historical records and 19th-century winter gardens — palms, orchids and other exotic flowers. In the future, the palm section is also meant to house a café, while the surrounding garden grounds are planned for cultural events, concerts, theatre performances and weddings.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by kudyznudy.cz