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The Castle of Benatky, which the Emperor had recently purchased from Count Dohnin, had been erected in 1522 in the place of an older castle which had been destroyed during the Hussite wars. It has since Tycho's time been considerably enlarged, so that the building inhabited by him now only forms the western wing. The castle is situated close to the town of Nove" Benatky (in German, Neu Benatek) on the right bank of the Iser, on a hill raised about two hundred feet over the river. The castle commands a fine view of the vineyards and orchards on the hilly northern (right) bank and tilled fields and pasture-lands on the southern, which latter are flooded by the Iser, so that the inhabitants of such occasions are surrounded by a lake. This may account for the name of Venetise Bohemorum by which Benatky has frequently been called, though Tycho believes that the general beauty of the surroundings has also contributed to the use of this name.

On the way to Benatky, Tycho sent from Brandeis a letter to Longomontanus at Kostock, dated the 20th August, in which he mentioned that the road was level, and that the journey took about six hours ; an official from Brandeis was that day or the next to conduct him and his belongings to Benatky, where he expected to remain until he got the estate which the Emperor intended to confer on him in fief. As soon as Tycho arrived at Benatky he set about altering the building and constructing an observatory and a laboratory. As usual, he expressed his pleasure at having at last found a resting place in various Latin poems, two of which were inscribed over the entrances to the observatory and the laboratory. The principal instruments were to be placed in separate rooms, as at Hveen, all connected with each other, and with the laboratory and residence, and a separate entrance was to be made for the Emperor, who had reserved an adjoining house for his own use whenever he visited Benatky.