overview about the place Cibulka was originally an ancestral manor with a vineyard and summer house on an elevated site near Košířské náměstí Square. In the 16th century, the estate was owned by the Cibulka family from Veleslavín, after whom the place was named. In 1817, the former bishop of Passau and art lover Prince Leopold Leonard Thun-Hohenstein bought the estate and turned it into his summer residence. He had the original manor house rebuilt in mysterious Romantic style, creating a comfortable classical Empire chateau embellished with sculptures. After his death, however, the manor gradually fell into disrepair, despite repeated attempts to save it. The entire compound consists of the main building, outbuildings and stables. Despite changing owners and gradual significant damage, the core of the manor has retained much of its heritage value and serves as an excellent and valuable example of a classical suburban estate. In April 2021, the site became the property of the Vlček Family Foundation, who are building a place dedicated to children’s palliative care while bringing Cibulka back to life through community and volunteer events and open-air festivals. history Cibulka was originally a hereditary farmstead with a vineyard and summer house on elevated ground near Košířské Square, but is sadly now in a severely dilapidated state. In the fourteenth century, it belonged to Jindřich Náz, a kitchen clerk to Charles IV, during whose ownership vineyards were cultivated here. In the sixteenth century, the estate was owned by the Cibulkovský family of Veleslavín, from whom it took its name. In 1714, one of the local vineyards belonged to a burgher named Vojtěchovský. At that time, as many as 200 Protestants persecuted by the Jesuits would gather here. They kept a chalice hidden on the estate and held religious services. In 1817, the former Bishop of Passau, Prince Leopold Leonard Thun-Hohenstein, purchased the estate and made it his summer residence. He had the original farmstead remodelled in a mysterious Romantic style, creating a comfortable little château in the Neoclassical Empire style, adorned with sculptures. The central courtyard was surrounded by two-storey residential buildings with balconies, farm buildings and various small utilitarian structures designed to resemble Romantic miniature castles, including kennels and dovecotes. A low tower with a large onion dome and clock was erected above the passageway through one of the buildings, as if echoing the name of the estate. The Thun family’s cast-iron coat of arms was installed above the main entrance to the courtyard. Cibulka’s importance can be seen in the fact that it was visited by Emperor Francis I and his family in 1824. In his honour, a Tuscan column surmounted by a stone sphere bearing the imperial eagle, known as the Práchner Stele, was erected here. After being restored in 2006, it was moved to Lesser Town Cemetery, where it now stands near Bishop Thun-Hohenstein’s tomb. A blind window in the garden house contained a stone half-length figure of The Gardener by Václav Nedoma (today possibly in the Lapidarium; some sources attribute it to Josef Malínský). According to legend, the gardener was turned to stone after refusing to give alms to a sick beggar and then subjecting him to a torrent of abuse. Jan Engelbrecht of Beroun created a sundial on the southern wall of one of the buildings. Between 1818 and 1824, the bishop laid out an extensive English landscape park. He planted a wide variety of trees, creating an unusual arboretum, and embellished the grounds with numerous small buildings and sculptures. Both the manor and the park were adorned with sculptures by Václav Práchner, Josef Bergler, Josef Malínský and Václav Nedoma, most of which have since been destroyed. With its ponds, the park was one of the best-known parks open to the general public at the time and was not enclosed by a fence. Only the private garden and the manor itself were enclosed. At the foot of the hill, where the Motol Stream once flowed before being channelled underground, the bishop had a statue of St John of Nepomuk by Václav Nedoma of Kosmonosy erected in 1818. It was the only religious theme in the entire complex. Bishop Thun-Hohenstein was also interested in physics and mechanics, and the park therefore contained various mechanical figures. The Chinese Pavilion, also known as the Chinese Mill, still stands in the gloomy, neglected park. Dating from 1822, it is a miniature octagonal pagoda with a recessed upper storey and an upswept pointed roof. A copper figure of a Chinese man holding an umbrella once stood here. The umbrella turned in the wind like a small windmill. Four more Chinese figures — two men and two women, each approximately 1.5 metres tall — stood on the viewing terrace, which is now partly ruined. The hermitage contained two wooden puppets of hermits, one of which lay on a bed of straw, while the other sat at a table reading the Bible. When someone stepped on the threshold, the hermit at the table would rise and give a blessing. The artificial castle ruin and its tower contained the figure of an armoured knight holding a sword, which moved through a mechanical apparatus when a lever was pulled. The park also contained the Temple of Diana, a covered sculptural group depicting the goddess with two hunting dogs. Other features included sculptures of Zeus and Laocoön, a sculpture of a lynx and various fictitious tombstones. A mysterious stone ruin with an artificial cave, or grotto, also survives. It originally contained a statue of Chronos. The cave, guarded by a three-headed dog, was known as Dante’s Inferno. Following the death of Bishop Leopold Thun-Hohenstein in 1826, Cibulka quickly began to fall into disrepair. In 1871, part of the park was used as an embankment for the Smíchov–Hostivice railway line. During this period, the estate buildings were used as social housing. For several years before being purchased by the Vlček Family Foundation in April 2021, the complex was closed and continued to deteriorate.