The Bechyně riding school was built in 1776 by Šimon Beer. (The plans were signed by the master mason Josef Fenk.) It was a single-aisle building 88m long, 22 m wide and 18 m high. Originally it had a thatched roof. In 1812 this single space was divided up by three partitions and its function changed. The original riding school remained in the central section and the other sections were used as a stable, a cowshed and a carthouse. In 1864 the original Baroque building of the riding school was reconstructed by the architect Turek in the neo-Gothic style by adding fourteen buttresses with parapeted battlements covered with granite slabs. Inside a triple-aisle vaulted area was constructed with Doric columns.

 

Before the reconstruction in 2000 and 2001 the building still had the original timberwork in the roof. At each truss point there was a stretcher that supported an upright plank ceiling with a daub and reed soffit. During the reconstruction the ceiling and soffit were removed and the non-load-bearing rafters were cut out from the false trusses. A trim joist with dragon beams was inserted between the joining beams. During the replacement of the different elements of the roof the original dimensions were strictly preserved. Only the original wooden tie rods that had become rotten over time were replaced by new metal ones. From the outside the reconstruction resulted in a new façade (awarded a prize for Façade of the Year in the Czech Republic for 1991) and also a coat-of-arms restored by the sculptor Miloslav Kolář (who was born in Bechyně and who also restored the sgraffito on the Ball-House in Prague Castle).

 

Inside the riding school on the west wall of the main hall is a very interesting exhibit – the original entrance gate from the Paar Palace on Schwarzenberg Square in Vienna. This palace was demolished after World War One (around the year 1920) and the gate was sent to Bohemia by train. The gate, which bears the date 1738, lay forgotten for 70 years in one of the halls of Bechyně castle. It was not until 2002 that it was discovered and restored.