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HospitalThe main tour will guide you through the interior of Kuks Hospital, e.g. the main hospital ward, Holy Trinity Church, the vestry, the courtyard and the Baroque apothecary´s “The Pomegranates”. At the model of the Kuks valley, the history of the entire unique baroque complex is explained; paintings and other exhibits present the life and personality of its founder, František Antonín Špork, and the history of the Brothers Hospitallers who cared for the hospital patients. In the lapidarium, you will see the unique collection of allegories of Virtues and Vices, original sculptures by the most famous Czech Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernard Braun.
The tour lasts 55 – 65 minutes.
Family CryptYou will experience the extraordinary space of the family crypt and will be acquainted with its architecture and the history of the Špork family members buried in the crypt.
The tour is a continuation of the preceding tour, or the Czech Pharmaceutical Museum tour.
The tour lasts ca. 10 minutes.
Czech Pharmaceutical MuseumThe six rooms of the museum, administered by the Faculty of Pharmacy of Charles University, will guide you through the history of pharmacy, from the Baroque to the 20th century. The exhibition presents other fields of pharmacy, too: pharmaceutical research, laboratory production and manufacture, drug control, pharmaceutical wholesale trade, education, military pharmacy. A broad spectrum of pharmaceuticals and preparations is exhibited, not only plant, mineral and chemical medicines, but also animal ones such as cockroaches, centipedes or mummies. Mortars, reliefs, paintings and apothecary jars will enchant you by their aesthetic beauty. The visitor can experience the role of a pharmacist and try to produce a hand-made tablet or dispense drugs to customers and give advice on their use.
You can take the tour as a continuation of the Hospital tour, or take the Czech Pharmaceutical Museum tour only.
The tour lasts ca. 25 – 35 minutes.
BRAUNŮV BETLÉM (Braun’s Nativity)A nature trail will lead you to a quiet forest place embellished by monumental Baroque sculptures of hermits and saints and biblical scenes reliefs by Matthias Bernard Braun. Its history is explained on information boards along the trail.
There is no guided tour. Braun’s Nativity is situated 3 km from the Kuks Hospital and it is accessible on foot (tourist path marked in red) or by car or bus (via Žireč to the outskirts of Hřibojedy; then 15 minutes from the car park).
The tour duration is individual, normally about 30 minutes.
(c) 2009-2011, Kuks Hospital
