Czech Republic Guide
East Bohemia
Kuks
Magnificently poised above a rustic village of timber-framed cottages, the great complex of Baroque spa buildings at KUKS, 5km north of Jaroměř, on the banks of the Labe, was the creation of the enlightened Bohemian dilettante Count Franz Anton Graf von Sporck (Špork in Czech). Work began, largely according to Sporck's own designs, in the 1690s, after the discovery of a nearby mineral spring with healing properties – by 1730 he had created his own private spa resort, with a garden maze, a hospital, a concert hall (complete with its own orchestra) and a racecourse (surrounded by statues of dwarves). For a while, Kuks' social life was on a par with the likes of Karlsbad; then, in 1738, the impresario died, and on December 22, 1740, disaster struck when the river broke its banks, destroying all the buildings on the left bank and, worse still, the springs themselves.
All that remains of the original spa is an overgrown monumental stairway leading nowhere, and, on the right bank, the hospital building fronted by Matthias Bernhard Braun's famous terrace, now the chief reason for visiting Kuks. Sporck became the Tyrolean sculptor's chief patron in Bohemia, commissioning from him a series of allegorical statues intended to elevate the minds of his spa guests: to the west, the twelve Vices culminate in the grim Angel of Grievous Death; to the east, the twelve Virtues end with the Angel of Blessed Death. Over the years the elements have not been kind to Braun's work, whose originals, including a few surviving dwarves, have retreated inside the hospital building and now provide the highlight of the 45-minute guided tour (April & Oct Sat & Sun 9am– noon & 1–3pm; May– Aug Tues– Sun until 5pm; Sept Tues– Sun until 4pm). Also on the tour is the beautifully restored eighteenth-century pharmacy and Baroque chapel; Sporck's subterranean mausoleum is no longer on show.
There's a good restaurant, Zámecká vinárna, next to the zámek, ladling out huge portions of meat and gravy. Buses will either drop you at the main road, a short walk north of the village, or in the village itself; the train station lies to the south, behind the hospital building and formal gardens (follow the blue-marked path).