It is a Baroque complex of a spa and hospital with church and crypt, founded by F.A. Špork at the turn of the 18th century. The spa manor used to be situated on the opposite slope, above the staircase, which still exists. Nevertheless, only a torso has remained from the original spa premises – the hospital, the staircase once leading to the spa manor and several spa buildings.

The hospital is now the most distinct feature of the Kuks Conservation Area. A tour of the Baroque complex includes a history exhibition, the 1743 Baroque Pharmacy (the second-oldest in the country), the depository holding M.B. Braun’s sculptures, a church and a garden. When viewing the church façade, Braun’s group of 12 alegorical sculptures called Vices are situated on the right hand side, and the 12 Virtues are placed on the left.

Braun’s landscape sculpture gallery is outside the borders of Kuks but is, in reality, inseparable from it. Along with his disciples, M.B. Braun created a large assembly of sculptures on the Nový Les hill above the village of Žíreč in 1723-33. It was called Betlém (

Bethlehem) after the central work. Apart from their renowned creator, the sculptures are also famous for having been created as a well-premeditated assemblage of works directly on the spot where the stone was quarried. Betlém has been a cultural monument since 1970 and was recently enlisted by the World Monument Fund among the 100 most endangered monuments in the world.The most acclaimed is the statue of St Onuphrius, a copy of which was used to decorate the Czechoslovak pavilion at the Osaka World Exhibition in 1970. Only parts have survived from the once-large ensemble, with sculptures considerably damaged, but they still deliver an experience worth seeing.

Tags: Kuks