Orangery Břevnov

After forty years of neglect, the monastery gardens were in very poor condition; all that remained of the orangery were ruins, crumbling terrace walls, and the damaged “Josefka” gazebo. However, all the surviving plantings and structures essentially dated from Dientzenhofer’s renovation in the first half of the 18th century.

Our primary task, therefore, was to restore this unique work to its original form. In the case of the orangery, this involved reconstructing the structure, of which only a fragment remained. We relied mainly on period photographic documentation and the recollections of the last gardener to work at the monastery, Mr. Karel Morávek, who passed away just one month before the orangery’s restoration was completed.