The area covered by today's Monastery Gardens originally belonged to the Piarist College, with the remaining part being used as a Catholic and a Protestant cemetery. Up to the time of the violent suppression of the Piarist Order in the early 1950s it was well maintained and in good condition. However, afterwards, the area deteriorated dramatically; the gardens were neglected and inaccessible and there was even talk of a crèche being built there. Finally, after 1989, the idea of making them accessible to the public was revived. However, the plan was not to bring the area back to its original state but to create a town park or gardens.
In 1997, Litomyšl town council announced an architectural design competition which attracted twenty-two entries. The jury chose a project designed by the architects Radko Květa and Zdeněk Sendler and Václav Babka's design studio Ateliér zahradní a krajinářské architektury. Their design imparted a sense of a “formal promenade park” to the whole area.
The motto for the design concept was “Garden-theatre, theatre-garden”; the designers perceived the space as a stage with the backdrop created by the architecture in-situ: two churches on either side with modern, 20th century architecture in the background. The geometric layout of the gardens is made up of open, grassy areas complemented by trees, flower beds and stone walls of varying heights. The appearance is rounded off with the addition of a pool decorated with a group of statues by the sculptor Olbram Zoubek. The raised eastern area of the gardens features an airy gazebo and a sculpture called Šik (Deployment) by Jasan Zoubek, Olbram Zoubek's son. The building of the former carriage house has also been transformed and refreshments are served there today.
From a connectivity point of view, the greatest benefit of the design is the logical net of pathways and entry points into the park encouraging new interspatial ties: thanks to new entry points at the Piarist College and the Provost church, it facilitates the linking of the gardens to the chateau premises and the area below the chateau. Zámecká Street was also subsequently revitalized, gaining a new avenue of lime trees.
