Blansko Chateau and the Museum of the Blansko Region: Caves, the Býčí skála Cave and Art Cast Iron

The chateau in the centre of Blansko houses the Museum of the Blansko Region (Muzeum Blanenska) and is the museum closest to the caves, about 10 km from Skalní Mlýn. In a single visit you can see how the karst was explored, from Wankel to Absolon, finds from the Býčí skála Cave (Bull Rock Cave), caving equipment in a 15th-century cellar and, upstairs, Blansko art cast iron, made famous by the Salm family. The permanent exhibitions upstairs are visited on a guided tour. Adults pay 100 Kč (approx. €4) — an indicative conversion, as exchange rates fluctuate. A family ticket costs 200 Kč (approx. €8), and a children’s play area is included in the price. From April to October the museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am–5 pm, and from November to March Tuesday to Saturday. It is closed on Mondays all year round. It’s a good choice for a rainy day, or as a stop on your way from the train station to the karst.

QUICK LINKS 🏰 A brief history of the chateau · 🔦 The caves and their explorers · 🐂 Býčí skála and prehistory · ⚙️ Art cast iron · 🛋️ Interiors and castles · 🎟️ Opening hours and admission · ❓ FAQ

Most people simply pass through Blansko, going straight from the train to the bus for Skalní Mlýn. Yet the museum in the chateau explains things that a guide inside the caves simply doesn’t have time for: who discovered the stalactites, what was found in the Býčí skála Cave, and why the karst was known in the 19th century as Moravian Switzerland. It’s best to come here before the caves rather than after them.

A brief history of the chateau

The building’s origins probably go back to the end of the 14th century. In the 1530s a manorial farmstead was converted into a fortified manor house, which Matyáš Žalkovský of Žalkovice then turned into a Renaissance chateau, completed in 1604. During the Thirty Years’ War the chateau was damaged by the Swedes. After 1694 the Gellhorn family gave it its Baroque appearance, and they were the last owners to actually live there.

In 1766 the indebted estate was bought by the Salm family, who lived at the chateau in Rájec. The Blansko chateau served them as a summer residence and as lodgings for friends and for officials of the ironworks. The last major rebuilding took place around 1870 in the Neo-Renaissance style. The chateau belonged to the Salms until 1945, when it was confiscated from them. In the 1960s it underwent a major reconstruction to designs by the architect Lubor Lacina, and the museum moved in on 22 June 1969.

The museum tradition in Blansko is older, though. As early as the mid-19th century, the Blansko doctor and founder of Moravian archaeology Jindřich Wankel set up a private museum of his finds in the outer chateau building. He even lived at the chateau for a time. After he left, the museum ceased to exist.

The caves and their explorers

For visitors to the karst, two exhibitions are of greatest interest:

• Journeys Through the Underworld of the Moravian Karst (Cesty podzemím Moravského krasu), in the 15th-century cellar, explains how caves form and introduces the cavers themselves. There is limestone, stalactites and stalagmites, cave maps and speleological equipment from 1970 to 2015: ladders, pumps, diving cylinders, overalls, helmets and lamps.
• Pictures from Moravian Switzerland (Obrazy z Moravského Švýcarska) is named after Wankel’s book. It begins with Wankel and carries on with his successors: Martin Kříž, Karel Jaroslav Maška, Jan Knies, Karel Absolon and his team, and Günther Nouackh. The museum candidly points out that Absolon was not always the first on the scene and that his methods were rough and ready. There is also an early 20th-century diving suit, mammoth and cave bear bones, and a 3D-printed skeleton of a cave lion.

For more on what is known about the karst, and on the stories from its history that are told less often, see the articles Hidden Stories of the Moravian Karst and How the Moravian Karst Was Formed.

Býčí skála and the prehistory of the Blansko region

The archaeological exhibition Journey into the Prehistory of the Blansko Region (Cesta do pravěku Blanenska) runs back through time, from the first mention of Blansko to the Neanderthals of the Kůlna Cave. Children are guided through it by a comic-strip archaeologist, Karel Pazourek. For visitors who are blind or partially sighted there are replicas to touch, an audio guide and labels in Braille.

The most famous part is devoted to the Býčí skála Cave. In autumn 1872 Wankel discovered there the remains of at least forty people from the Hallstatt period, along with a great many pieces of jewellery and other offerings. What happened there is still not clear today. The exhibition also covers iron smelting around Olomučany and finds from the Pekárna Cave.

Where the originals are: the most famous find, the small bronze bull, has been in Vienna since 1883. The Anthropological Society bought Wankel’s collection that year and donated it to the Natural History Museum in Vienna. A facial reconstruction of the so-called Princess of Býčí skála can be seen in the Anthropos pavilion of the Moravian Museum in Brno. The cave itself is described in the article Josefovské údolí and Býčí skála.

Blansko art cast iron

The ironworks in Blansko were set in motion by the Salms. In 1807 the business was taken over by Hugo František Salm-Reifferscheidt, a connoisseur and patron of the arts, who turned the old forges into a modern ironworks. He longed to cast large statues after classical models, and in 1821 he therefore brought the chemist Karl von Reichenbach to Blansko. Thanks to him, large statues could be cast here in a single piece. Blansko cast iron was exported all over the world and was compared with English work.

The exhibition shows figurative sculptures as well as utilitarian and funerary ironwork. The Salms sold the ironworks in 1896, and art casting carried on in the Art Nouveau style. I write more about ironworking in the karst in the article The Iron Karst.

Historic interiors and the castles of the Blansko region

• Historic Interiors (Historické interiéry) took their present form in the Neo-Renaissance rebuilding of the 1870s, to a design by Bedřich Wachsmann. Wood panelling survives in the Blue Salon, the Green Cabinet, and the Red, Music and Pink Drawing Rooms. For a long time the rooms were used as flats, offices and the town library, and they only opened to the public in 1994.
• Treasures of the Castles of the Blansko Region (Poklady hradů Blanenska) is the newest exhibition, on the medieval castles of the region, with weapons from the Hussite Wars, coins and jewellery. Castles that survive only as ruins are brought to life here with the help of modern technology. One of them is described in the article Devils in the Moravian Karst.

In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the museum has seasonal exhibitions in a small gallery, and a children’s play area, which is included in the admission price.

Opening hours and admission

Guided tours of the permanent exhibitions upstairs usually start at weekends at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30, and on weekdays at 10:00, 11:30, 14:00 and 15:30. Last entry is at 15:30. Times occasionally change because of weddings and concerts at the chateau.

Groups of 30 or more can arrange a tour outside opening hours. Contact details and the current programme can be found at muzeum-blanenska.cz.

Getting there and what to combine it with

• By train: the chateau is close to the centre of Blansko and within walking distance of the railway station. See The Moravian Karst Without a Car.
• In town: the wooden church of St Paraskeva and the ruins of Čertův hrádek (Devil’s Castle); see Blansko.
• With children: the chateau is one of the fairy-tale offices of Krasík the snail, where you can collect a stamp.
• When it rains: more tips for staying under cover are in the article The Moravian Karst in the Rain.

FAQ

How much does it cost to visit the Museum of the Blansko Region? The permanent exhibitions with a guide cost 100 Kč for adults and 50 Kč for children aged 6–15, and a family ticket is 200 Kč. Children under 6 get in free.

Is the bull from the Býčí skála Cave in the museum? The exhibition is devoted to finds from the Býčí skála Cave, but the original bronze bull has been in the Natural History Museum in Vienna since 1883.

When is the Museum of the Blansko Region open? From April to October, Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am–5 pm, and from November to March, Tuesday to Saturday, 10 am–5 pm. It is closed on Mondays.

Is the museum suitable for children? Yes. A comic-strip archaeologist guides children through the archaeological exhibition, and a play area is included in the admission price.

Information verified as of 15 October 2026. Sources: Muzeum Blanenska: Muzeum, ceník a otevírací doba, Historie zámku, exhibitions Cesty podzemím, Obrazy z Moravského Švýcarska, Cesta do pravěku, Umělecká litina, Historické interiéry, Poklady hradů; ČT24: Princezna z Býčí skály má opět tvář (10. 5. 2016).

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