Hegi Castle, which dates from the 13th century, is situated to the east of Winterthur. The well preserved castle complex has 1,6m thick walls, and thanks to its 10m tall tower can be seen from a long way off. The castle complex includes a residential tower built in 1200, a knights’ house added later, and a farm building. The interior will transport you to the Late Middle Ages – as the furniture, stoves, ceramic items, glass paintings and weapons date back to the period between the 15th and 18th centuries.
The castle has been open to the public since 1947 and served as a youth hostel until 2000. Nowadays, it is a museum and venue for cultural events.
Old pictures of the castle show that there was once an extensive kitchen garden on its eastern side. Inspired by these illustrations, a new garden with old vegetable varieties was created in 2012. The produce grown in this kitchen garden can be enjoyed on weekends in the “Schloss Schenke”, a stable that has been converted into a restaurant.
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The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.