The builders in the lordly garden at Pernštejn are finishing the pathways

Nedvědice - Work on the restoration of the lordly garden of Pernštejn Castle in the Brno region is slowly approaching completion. It is expected to finish in four months and is currently on schedule. Zdeněk Škrabal, the castle keeper, told ČTK.

The postponement of the tourist season due to the coronavirus had no impact on the progress of the work. The lordly garden has not yet been accessible to visitors, so workers would not encounter them.

"Currently, the paths are being finished. The garden is actually one big network of paths in both hilly and flat terrain. Since many smaller constructions have been completed so far and much work has been done in the garden, the final shape is being worked on only now," noted Škrabal.

Work is also concluding on attractions, such as the refurbished original obelisk, in which some parts had to be replaced with new ones, or the sculptural decorations of the garden.

The extraordinary project, costing almost 120 million crowns, began in 2017 and should be completed this fall. From the next tourist season, the garden will be open to the public. Those who have not visited Pernštejn in recent years will hardly recognize the previously overgrown slope.

The garden is returning to its appearance from 200 years ago. Visitors will find an Anglo-Chinese garden with a quasi-natural pond, Turkish baths, and a French garden with pear trees. Gardeners have planted approximately two hundred new trees, including fruit trees in the French garden, as well as hornbeams, beeches, oaks, and ornamental shrubs. The steep slope will be interwoven with paths and water channels, so builders had to stabilize it with micro-piles.

Of the nearly 120 million crowns needed for the garden's restoration, 90 million has been secured from the European Union. A new visitor circuit will lead through the restored garden in 2021.

The lordly ornamental garden at Pernštejn is an architectural complex of a medieval castle, first supplemented in the Baroque period and later in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with a series of gardens. According to monument experts, it has no equivalent in the Czech Republic.