Mikulov and surrounding

The Three Graces

The Three Graces

The summer house was built during the reign of Prince John I of Liechtenstein in the years 1824-1825. The neoclassical building, which combined the function of staff housing with a summer house, is the work of Franz Josef Engel. The sculpture in front of the colonnade is the work of sculptor Johann Martin Fischer from 1799 and was originally located in the castle gardens in Lednice. The author of the sculptural decoration in the colonnade is Josef Klieber.

At the beginning of the 21st century, a complete reconstruction of the building was carried out. [1]

The Temple of the Three Graces consists of a horseshoe-shaped colonnade of twelve Ionic columns, closed by two facades, formed by two symmetrical arcades with Doric capitals, to which five staircases lead. In the back wall of the gallery there are ten allegorical sculptures of classical art and sciences in rectangular niches. [1] [3] A rectangular building with three windows (one French and two rectangular) is added to the rear wall from the south side. In front of it is a three-part arcade, formed by Tuscan columns, set on a plinth, equipped with six staircases, which form a loggia. The French window leads into a room with a mosaic stone floor and an illusory painting.

From the social hall it is possible to observe the Pond Chateau on the opposite bank of the pond and the sculpture of the Three Graces in front of the colonnade. [2] However, they are not three Greek goddesses (Athena, Artemis and Aphrodite), as is sometimes mistakenly mentioned, but Charitas - the goddess of beauty and charm. The first holds the helmet of the goddess of war, wisdom and crafts Minerva, the second the wing of Mercury, the god of trade and trade, the third the myrtle, the symbol of the river Perseus. [4]