Hundreds of amethysts uncovered in Kroměříž Chateau grotto

Kroměříž Chateau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Zlín Region, dazzles the country with its architecture and gardens – and now also with hundreds of amethysts, centuries old and recently discovered by accident by a researcher from Palacký University.

Kroměříž|Photo: Roman Verner, Czech Radio

Kroměříž Chateau, the former residence of archbishops of Olomouc, is already a jewel of Moravia, but it has acquired further brilliance through the discovery of a cache of amethysts, violet-coloured stones built into its Baroque artificial caves.

The finding was made by expert restorers working on site, and the amethysts are reckoned to be more than 330 years old. These semiprecious stones of incalculable value were hidden in the mortar of the Kroměříž grottoes, built at the end of the seventeenth century in the basement of the chateau. The amethysts are of international importance, according to experts like Jana Zapletalová, who first made the discovery:

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“In the adjacent Saly Terreny, we were examining the stucco decorations, and since my colleagues were taking stucco samples and only two people could fit on the scaffolding, I decided to go and see the stucco trees, imitations of trees made from stucco, located in the grotto of Apollo.”

“Then I decided to look into the back of the grotto. At that moment I was shining a torch, because the grotto is quite dark, and thanks to the intense lighting I noticed that some of the stones were sparkling. At that moment I realised that the back of the grotto around me was completely full of these stones.”

Sala Terrena, Archbishop’s Castle, Kroměříž|Photo: Olomouc’s Palacký University

It was behind a statue of the ancient sun god Apollo, which dominates its grotto, that Jana Zapletalová, a member of the Department of Art History at Palacký University, first saw the amethysts.

“It takes a while to get used to it and to start to see them behind the seemingly unsightly stones covering them up. The entire wall currently being taken down was most likely made entirely of amethysts originally, and a spring of water used to flow under the statue of Apollo.”

The amethysts were brought to the grotto at the end of the seventeenth century by the Olomouc prince-bishop Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn (1623–1695), a patron of the arts and the founder of the current Baroque chateau.

Radek Hanus|Photo: Filip Jandourek, Archive of Czech Radio

Mineralogist Radek Hanus has found out that the semi-precious stones come from the Květnice hill near Tišnov (South Moravia). The state of the amethysts indicates they were washed and well packed prior to transportation, all in all suggesting an expensive and labour-intensive operation.

For years, the amethysts were covered with a layer of mortar, and therefore hidden from the eyes of experts and the general public. It is not clear when, why or by whom they were covered up.

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The experts from Palacký University are now counting on further research and restoration work. This could take up to ten years. However, during this work, the grottos will remain partially accessible to visitors to Kroměříž Chateau.