It was founded as a Gothic fortress in the style of French castles at the end of the 13th century, probably by Bishop Tobias of Benešov. Konopiště was turned into a Baroque residence in the 18th century by the Vrtba family. Franz Ferdinand d'Este, who bought the castle in 1887, rebuilt Konopiště into a magnificent imperial residence.

The Art Nouveau house No. 74 was built in 1904-5 according to the project of Marcel Dusil by the District Credit Union in Benešov. In 1992, an exposition dedicated to the history of the town and its surroundings, artistic monuments of the region and artists who worked here was opened to the public. Ethnography is an interesting feature. It presents mainly folk clothing and textiles, furniture, underpaintings on glass and folk sculpture.

The District Museum was already operating on the ground floor in the years 1950 - 1962 and returned in 1992, when it opened an exhibition on the history of Benešov and its surroundings on the first floor. In 2002, it added an exhibition on the second floor dedicated to the history of the Benesov military garrison.

The first burgher brewery was built in Benešov in 1872. In 1897, it was bought by František Ferdinand d ́Estea and to this day brews beer according to traditional recipes. The brewery is one of the handmade and typically Czech breweries, where the quality of the beer is constantly monitored by the most skilled brewers. They pay a lot of care and attention to the golden beverage. Eighteen different types of bottom-fermented beers are produced under their hands. From the classic Ten and the special semi-dark beer Seven Bullets or the unique gluten-free beer to the special Nice Number. The brewery includes a unique malt house, which not only produces malt for the needs of the Benešov brewery, but also supplies other breweries throughout the Czech Republic and abroad. On average, the Ferdinand brewery produces 28,000 hectolitres of beer per year.

As the chronicle written by the so called Beneš Minorita states, the Benešov Minorite Convent was established in 1247 by a provost of the Old Boleslav canonry Tobiáš of Benešov. Tobiáš was supposed to give the new community the Benešovicové family seat that was located on a promontory, nowadays known as Karlov, above the present day town. Only the remains of the pentagonal presbytery with two gothic windows were preserved.