History of Mcely...     Writing the next chapter

History is a novel for which the people is the author ~Alfred de Vigny, Réflexions sur la Vérité dans l'Art It is clear that people have been at Mcely since at least the Bronze age, the known chronology follows.

1000 BC
The inhabitants of the Bohemian basin had already built a stronghold in this area.  The ancient Celts also left visible traces here, and it is from the Celtic that we think the name Mcely derives. (This tradition lives on in our Alchymist bar's selection of fine Celtic whiskies!)

1252 AD
 The first reliable evidence of the existence of a settlement with the unusual old-Czech name of Mcely can be found on a parchment dated 1252.  Exactly a hundred years later, the Gothic church of St. Vaclav and parish were founded.

1653
Count Jan Kristian of Valdštejn played an important part in the renovation of the Mcely church after it was destroyed by fire during the 30 years War, and on Vinice hill above the village he built the first Chateau Mcely, which his descendents later used occasionally, mostly for hunting.  A small statue of the Virgin Mary of Mcely started to be revered from the time of the renovation of the church.

1808
Baron Jan Filip Wessenberg-Ampringen, who became well-known in the Hapsburg diplomatic service during the negotiations over the settlement of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon, bought Chateau Mcely.  After the fall of Chancellor Metternich in the revolutionary year of 1848, the Baron became head of the new government.

1841
The dilapidated Baroque-style Chateau Mcely was demolished and rebuilt in an austere classical style.  Jindřich, the son of Baron Jan Filip Wessenberg-Ampringen, moved into the new Chateau Mcely with his family.  The manor remained in the family’s hands until 1859.

1849
According to old records, nine years before a similar event in Lourdes, the Virgin Mary appeared to three little girls in the small field between Chateau Mcely and the adjoining church.  The sleepy village of 300 inhabitants was suddenly bursting at the seams with visitors and religious pilgrims.  After a series of reported visions of the Virgin, known as the “Mcely Miracles,” church and state authorities on the personal intervention of Božena Němcová, worked to suppress the Marian cult that sprang up in the village.

1863
From 1863 to 1869, numerous family members of Count Boos-Waldeck occupied Chateau Mcely.  They built an additional storey with an attic and enhanced it with two 3-floor wings at right-angles.  When completed, Chateau Mcely made a picturesque sight for the village and surrounding area.

1869
In 1869 Count Filip Boos-Waldeck sold the Chateau Mcely estate to Prince Hugo Maximilian and the princely family of Thurn-Taxis, which had its principal seat in nearby Loučen.  The Prince and his descendents owned Chateau Mcely until 1948.  To this day, tales are told about the abandon revels of the young Thurn-Taxis family, their hunts with horses and hounds, and lavish parties with ballet dancers and actresses, kennels and racing stables and all the luxuries of aristocratic life of the time.

1903
The west wing of the chateau had to be demolished because of its poor foundations, and in its place a wooden hall was built and used as a theatre and cinema.  This structure was taken down in 1935 and the wood used to build a forest restaurant by the fishpond, as well as for construction of the Jívák u Loučeně holiday cottages.  Costly renovation of the chateau was required when Prince Erich Thurn-Taxis married Countess Gabriela Kinsky.  Their large family lived at Chateau Mcely until 1925.

1939
  After the death of the famous, aged Prince and overall owner, Alexander Jan, Chateau Mcely became the family home and administrative centre of his grandson and principle heir, Prince Luigi della Torre e Tasso, and his wife, Fanny Goodyear, daughter of  the famous American tycoon.

1948
Chateau Mcely was used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior for various purposes.  In serious disrepair, it was reduced to a dilapidated state and if it had not been for the current reconstruction project, would probably have been destroyed.

2004
The demanding and extensive renovation and reconstruction of Mcely Chateau began on June 15 to be completed Spring 2006.

2006
Chateau Mcely opens officially to the public.