Bellevue Summerhouse

Location: on a hill in the north-east over the spa centre of Karlovy Vary
Time of construction: autumn of 1834
Architect: anonymous
Open to the public: autumn of 1834
Now: open to the public for free

Access to the building

Access No. 1: A short walk from the Sprudel in the spa centre starts in Vřídelní Street on the right bank of the Teplá River. You will turn into Ondřejská Street after 400 metres, go up, cross the main street and keep walking until you reach the highest point of the hill. You will turn to Máchova Street at the crossroads and will walk on as far as the park where the summerhouse stands. The whole trip is about 1 kilometre and takes about 20 minutes. 

Access No. 2: Another possibility is taking a bus (No. 10 and No. 15) to Drahovice, getting off at the bus stop Havlíčkova and going up Máchova Street directly to the hill with the summerhouse in the adjacent park.

History of the building

The wooden columned summerhouse Bellevue was originally a viewing summerhouse built in the ancient style in the autumn of the year 1834. It was built on a woodless hill which was originally called the Gallows Hill by the road running to Drahovice to the north-east of the spa centre. There used to be a place of execution with a gallows here which was removed after death penalty had been abolished in Austria-Hungary in 1786. The original summerhouse was pulled down owing to its very bad state on 15th June 1885 to be rebuilt again.

Today the summerhouse is surrounded by grown-up trees which block the view of the spa town in the valley.

However, a visit to the summerhouse equipped with benches offers a pleasant stop on your walks into this part of Karlovy Vary. You can also go to see a baroque statue of Virgin Mary near the summerhouse.