The Olomouc Archdiocesan Museum was established in the year 1998 as part of the Olomouc Museum of Art. It consists of the first museum of its type in the history of the Czech Lands. It includes the Romanesque Palace of the Moravian Bishops next to St. Wenceslas Cathedral at the Olomouc Přemyslid Castle. As of the year 1999 the northern part of the former Castle was gradually reconstructed for the needs of the Museum, the building of the chapter deanery and its husbandry yard.
The area of the Olomouc Castle has a history dating back thousands of years (the oldest findings are from around the year 4,000 B.C.). From the year 1034 the area served as the seat of the Moravian Přemyslid Princes. In the year 1141 the Bishop’s seat was moved here to St. Wenceslas Church by Jindřich Zdík and the Romanesque Palace was built in its vicinity. The building of the chapter deanery was built in the secular part of the Castle where on the 4th of September 1306 (seven hundred years ago) the last of the Czech Kings of the Přemyslid dynasty Wenceslas III was murdered. After being partially damaged during the Thirty Years’ War, the Castle grounds were reconstructed in the Baroque style over a period of almost one century. A range of renowned figures stayed in its stately rooms, including the young W. A. Mozart with his family in the year 1767.
The entire grounds of the former Přemyslid Castle are now a national cultural monument as of the year 1995. After the return of all of the buildings situated around Wenceslas Square including the chapter deanery to the Catholic Church, the more than one hundred year old idea of constructing an Archdiocesan Museum could begin to be carried out. A contract was drawn up between the Olomouc Archbishopric and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic on the basis of which the carrying out of the project was entrusted to the Olomouc Museum of Art. Thanks to the co-operation of Archbishop Jan Graubner and auxiliary Bishop Josef Hrdlička the buildings of the chapter deanery with its husbandry yard, the round tower and Zdík’s Palace with parts of the ribbed corridor and the Chapel of St. John the Baptist were all included in the grounds of the new Museum. Apart from research and preparation work, including additional extensive archaeological research, it became necessary to solve a whole range of conceptual questions, first and foremost connecting up the building of the deanery with Zdík’s Palace.
A widely advertised architectural competition was announced in the year 1998 with the design of the trio of the Prague architects Petr Hájek, Tomáš Hradečný and Jan Šépka finally being awarded the tender. They proclaimed their goal to be the preservation, to the greatest extent possible, of the authenticity of the historical buildings combined with a moderate employment of artistically demanding new materials, limited to concrete, steel and glass. The construction and restoration work was begun in the year 2000. The first part of the grounds with the husbandry yard was completed three years later and the Museum itself was opened on the 1st of June 2006.
Apart from the opportunity to view the majority of the parts of the architectural remains of the Olomouc Castle, the Archdiocesan Museum presents a permanent exhibition of the artistic culture of the Olomouc diocese for its visitors. Developments over the course of an entire millennium can be observed in the 1,100 m2 exhibition spaces with four halls with an area of 360 m2 designated for temporary exhibitions along with rooms for lecturing activities, the multi-purpose Mozarteum hall for 120 people or the Museum Café with a wine bar and with seating possibilities in the impressive surroundings of the Cour d’Honneur of the chapter deanery.