ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Středočeský kraj	Central Bohemia region
Okres: Mělník

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Mělník is situated at the confluence of the river Vltava (Moldau) into the river Labe (Elbe), about 31 km north of Prague.

The earliest settlements seem to have been founded by Slavonic tribes in the 5th/6th centuries. Mělník gained the status of a town in 1274 from King Přemysl Otakar II of Bohemia and later was a royal town belonging to the Bohemian queens.

The  castle dates back to the 10th century when a castle was erected on the hill overlooking the river in pace of an older Slavonic stronghold. This Romanesque castle was later reconstructed in Late Gothic style and, after 1542, rebuilt as a Renaissance château. The castle obtained its final Baroque appearance in the 18th century. From 1753 it had been in possession of the Lobkowicz family. After the dispossession during the communist era the castle was restituted to the family in 1992.