Prácheň Museum in Písek

The Museum in Písek – known as the Museum of Prácheň – was founded in 1884. In the beginning, the Museum was based in the gothic castle where it had an office and six other rooms. As the collections grew, more space was needed and so the Museum expanded into the castle and military barracks where you can now find the expositions and exhibitions, as well as the depository and facilities for specialists and administrative personnel.
When the Committee of the European Council honoured the Museum of Prácheň in Písek with the “European Museum of the Year” award in 1996, both Czech and foreign visitors stated that it was fully legitimate. The perfectly arranged expositions in a modern design illustrate the Písek region. Visitors can learn about different topics, such as Prehistory and Slavic Age, Beginnings of the Castle and the City of Písek, History of the Region, Protected Areas, Mineral Resources, Cultural Traditions of the Písek Region, Gold in the River Otava Basin, Fish and Fisheries, Písek Countryside in 19th Century, or the Gallery of Czech Monarchs.
The Museum also provides space for short-term exhibitions. The exhibition spaces include the spacious Gallery and the Small Exhibition Hall; you can also find small exhibitions in the corridor along the museum library.

The Museum has an information centre and a museum shop. We sell regional literature, souvenirs, natural items, postcards, tourist stamps, as well as maps of South Bohemia, and other things.

Velké nám. 114, 397 24 Písek, Czech Republic mail: info@prachenskemuzeum.cz
tel.: +420 382 201 111

Opening hours:
March - September: Tuesday - Sunday 9 - 18
Monday closed
October - December: Tuesday - Sunday 9 - 17
Monday closed

National Holiday: open

Entrance fee:
adults / 40 Kč
children, seniors / 20 Kč
touristic photo / 20 Kč
 

The Monument of the City of Protivín

The Protivín Municipal Museum first opened in 1932. It was located in the building of a former council school. In 1981, it was transferred under the administration of the former Regional Museum in Písek and even the historical exhibits from Protivín became a part of the collection of the Písek Museum.
Between 2000 and 2008, the Museum installed a specialized exposition called Exotic Nature with emphasis on its variety and diversity.
The expositions present the “Exotic World of Insect”, “The World under the Sea”, “The World of Mountains, Deserts, Savannahs and River and Lake Shores” and “The World of Primeval Forests and Seashores”.
The new historical exposition is one of the most modern in South Bohemia and both adults and children will surely find it interesting. The Monument of the City of Protivín introduces the history of the city as the centre of the region, as well as some of the important phenomena of the region: brewing beer, railway, the influence of the Schwarzenberg family, and the federal life as well as everyday life in Protivín. The Museum intended to create an interactive exposition with a series of haptic and other features.

Masarykovo nám. 19, Protivín,  Czech Republic
tel.: + 420 382 251 471


Opening hours:
May - October: Tuesday - Sunday 9 - 12, 13 - 16
Monday closed
 

Entrance fee:
adults / 40 Kč
children, seniors / 20 Kč
touristic photo / 20 Kč
 

Adolf Heyduk Memorial in Písek

Adolf Heyduk arrived at the newly established school of Realism in Písek as a lecturer of drawing and calligraphy in 1860.
He was born in Předhradí near Skuteč (1835) and was already a well-known poet at the time of his arrival in South Bohemia. He came to like Písek so much that he married his student, Emilie Reinerova, and settled down there permanently. His poems were published throughout the magazines of that time, as well as in sixty individual collections of poems. Heyduk died in Písek in 1923 and is buried at the Vyšehrad cemetery.

In 1900, the poet had a house built and decorated with poetic symbols – Pegasus and a swan, as proposed by architect Jan Koula. After Mrs. Heyduk died, the Prácheň Museum in Písek set up a memorial in the house. You can see the poet’s study, dining room and saloon – including the furniture, the library and the paintings as well as some small domestic items. As an addition to the memorial, there is also a new exposition about the poet’s life and work.

Tyršova ul. 438, 397 01 Písek,  Czech Republic
tel.: + 420 382 215 040


Opening hours:
March - December: Tuesday - Saturday 9 - 12, 13 - 17
Monday / National Holiday: closed

Entrance fee:
adults / 40 Kč
children, seniors / 20 Kč

 

 Observation Tower in the Řežabinec Nature Reserve

Since 1949, the 104-hectare pond (the largest pond in the district of Písek) has been protected, along with the area of pools on its eastern bank added in 1985. At present, the most important part of the reserve are the birds in the bank reed and in the vegetation of the pools as well as amphibians in the pools. The reserve is accessible by the general public on marked tourist trails. The trail that goes along the wind-blown dam of the eastern bank of the pond has a lookout tower, owned by the Prácheň Museum in Písek. The ground floor and the upper part of the tower are used by the Museum and specialized organizations for research purposes, its entresol is open to the public, offering a view of the abundant vegetation of the bank reed and the pond surface.

Between 1977 and 2021, the Museum organized summer ornithological camps for young people interested in bird-ringing and nature preservation.

Since 1980, the Museum zoologist has carried out complex ornithological research in the reserve. He is also the author of nine panels along the nature trail, installed by the Conservation Area Administration of the Nature Reserve of Třeboňsko.
The lookout tower was built in 1985.

Řežabinec, Řežabinec Pools
Ražice

National nature reservation / tourist signs

Entrance fee:
Free entry all year round