The chΓteau, originally a castle, was probably founded in the first half of the 12^th century. At that time, after the disintegration of the powerful Slavnik family principality and the extinction of the Vrsovec family, the unknown owners of Podebrady built a fortified residence on a slate outcrop above the Labe River. When Podebrady was ranked among the royal estates in the times of Premysl Otakar II as an escheat, a moated stone castle was built where the ruler would occasionally stay with his entire court. The castle was one of a number of strategically important places on the Labe to protect Prague from invasion by enemies from the East and the Northeast.

In the 14^th century important Moravian noblemen, the Lords of Kunstat, obtained the Podebrady estate and they substantially increased the defences of their residence. During their ownership, in the 14^th and start of the 15^th century, the castle was again reconstructed and perfectly fortified. In addition the existing moats were also enlarged, supplied by a weir dam.

Another reconstruction of the castle, this time already Renaissance, came under Emperor Ferdinand I during the second half of the 16^th century. The work was lead by the Italian architect G. B. Aostalli de Sala who changed the castle into a comfortable summer hunting residence. This reconstruction, as the previous one, was erased to a considerable degree by the reconstruction carried out in the times of Maria Theresa.

From 1885 until 1912 the chateau did not lose its new appearance under the last private owners either. They were the Prince A. F. Hohenlohe of Schillingsfⁿrst and his wife Chariclea, formerly Ypsilanti.

The chateau's current shape is therefore the result of several thorough reconstructions, from a moated castle through a medieval fortification, a Renaissance royal residence right through to a late Baroque building used for military purposes under Joseph II.

Today there are only two spaces accessible to the public in the entire chateau, a restored medieval chapel and the so called Native Hall of King George adjacent to it.

The equestrian statue of King George of Podebrady from Bohuslav Schnirch belongs among the top works of Czech monumental sculpture of the 19^th century. Its manner of manufacturing is unique because it was hammered out from copper plates fixed onto a steel skeleton. The statue was first installed at the Jubilee and Ethnographical Exhibition in Prague and it was ceremoniously unveiled in 1896 in Podebrady

The Marian column was raised on the square in the memory of the plague which raged in 1714. It originates in 1765 and probably it is the work of the Podebrady Baroque sculptor Josef Bergman. At the top of the column is a statue of The Mother of God and the column is surrounded by four figures of saints (St. Wenceslas, St. Adalbert, St. Procopius and St. Florian).

The Old Town Hall (today the Municipal Folk Library) was built to replace a burnt town hall building which used to stand in the place of Zalozna Hotel. The town bought the Renaissance burgher's house originating in the 16^th century for this purpose in 1775, adding a tower onto the front in 1814. Since this reconstruction the house has practically remained the same. The bell in the tower used to summon councilors to council meetings and later peeled out fire alarms. It served as a town hall until WW II. The memorial tablet at the front is devoted to the poet and dramatist of the National Revival, Frantisek Turinsky, who was born here. The tablet is a work of the sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch.

An ancient single floor little house stands at the end of the lane Na dlazdeni next to the museum. It was built in 1444 and financed by an endowment from Kunhuta of Sternberk, the first wife of King George of Podebrady, as a hospital. Still in the 17^th century poor old women would live here with the duty of daily praying for the health of the Hapsburg family. The current appearance of the building originates from the first half of the 18^th century. The house serves the museum's needs.

The Miners' Church stands on the place where in 1496 the ten innocent leaders of the Kutna Hora miners' uprising were decapitated. In memory of this sad event a wooden chapel was built here already in 1516, replaced by a stone building in the middle of the 17^th century. Today's look of the church in its Neo-Gothic style is a result of a reconstruction in 1896. The sculptures at the front were created by the sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch.

According to legend, during the execution blood sprayed onto one of the branches of an oak tree and since that time it bore acorns resembling headless bodies in capes. The oak stood here as long as 1777 and several of its acorns are still held in the Podebrady Museum.

Not far from the church we see a well, a reminder of the extinct spring of ferrous water (popularly called bloody). Its discovery was also mentioned by Jan Amos Komensky. From 1722 right up to the founding of the Podebrady carbonic spa in 1908 the spring was utilized as a little spa with several cabins built here.

Behind the Miners' Church begins an enclosure founded by Emperor Ferdinand 1 400 years ago. At the end of the last century attempts were made to acclimatize ostriches, kangaroos, antelopes and other exotic animals.