Moravska Trebova in the Pardubice region has been awarded the title of Historical Town of the Year 2024, the Czech Culture Ministry told journalists yesterday, adding that the accolade is a reward for the use of money from the Ministry of Culture for the restoration of monuments.
The award, together with CZK 1 million for further heritage conservation, was received by Deputy Mayor Vaclav Dokoupil (KDU-CSL) at a ceremony in Prague yesterday.
The competition is organised by the Association of Historical Settlements of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, together with the ministries of culture and regional development, to award the best use of subsidies from the Ministry of Culture’s programmes for urban conservation areas and zones. In this year’s 31st edition of the contest, the jury selected from 15 towns in the final round.
Moravska Trebova, in the Svitavy district, is a town of almost 10,000 inhabitants. Dokoupil told CTK that the town has made its Renaissance town hall accessible and created a new information system. At the same time, it acquired the Renaissance church from the local parish, which it is trying to repair and make accessible. “I’m convinced that the jury appreciated that we want to open up the monuments to the public so that they are not just repaired houses,” Dokoupil said.
The Ministry for Regional Development’s award, which carries a prize of CZK 100,000, went to Nove Mesto nad Metuji in the Hradec Kralove Region and Prague 1 for its outstanding implementation of the programme for the rehabilitation of heritage reserves. A special award was given to Horni Slavkov in the Karlovy Vary Region for the restoration of St. George’s Church, and the town of Lipnik nad Becvou in the Olomouc Region for the restoration of its town hall, fortifications, and castle.
According to Jiri Vajcner, Director of the Ministry’s Department of Heritage Protection, the state programmes for the rehabilitation of reserves and zones should have an annual fund of CZK 700 million. Above that, the government managed to allocate CZK 1.4 billion for the restoration of the fortress towns of Terezin and Josefov. “I am convinced that the time of less abundance is over,” Vajcner said yesterday. He said the Culture Ministry had also begun to put emphasis on plans to protect heritage reserves and zones.
The award this year is linked to the establishment of the International Council of Monuments and Sites 60 years ago in Warsaw. 18 April has been celebrated as the International Day of Monuments and Sites under the auspices of UNESCO since 1983. This year it is Good Friday, so the title of Historical Town of the Year 2024 was awarded in advance.
According to Nadezda Goryczkova, Director of the National Heritage Institute, a new theme of monument protection should be announced for the International Day of Monuments and Sites, namely cultural heritage resilient to natural disasters and armed conflicts.
There are 40,000 immovable monuments in the Czech Republic, 39 urban conservation areas, and 255 urban conservation zones.
