The historical city of the year 2020 is Cheb in the Karlovy Vary Region

Cheb – The town of Cheb has advanced to the national round of the competition for the title of Historical Town of the Year 2020. It won in the regional round of the competition for the Award for the Best Preparation and Implementation of the Program for the Regeneration of Urban Heritage Reserves and Urban Heritage Zones, which has been announced by the Ministry of Culture since 1994. In the Karlovy Vary Region, four towns participated in this year’s round of the competition - besides Cheb, Horní Slavkov, Karlovy Vary, and Žlutice. The winner of the national round will be ceremonially announced on the occasion of International Monument and Heritage Day in April. Cheb has already won the national round of the competition once.

The evaluation committee praised the high number of completed restoration projects in the historic center of the town and Cheb's comprehensive approach to fulfilling the Program for the Regeneration of Urban Heritage Reserves and Urban Heritage Zones. “It is also highly commendable the educational work that the town of Cheb and the Historical Cheb Foundation carry out in the field of cultural heritage preservation and restoration. An example is the unique guided tour route, presenting a unique set of historical roofs of burgher houses, as well as successful workshops where the public could try their hand at creating historical roofing or making plaster using traditional techniques,” said evaluation committee member Jelena Dědková from the National Heritage Institute's regional office in Loket.

Horní Slavkov also performed very well in the competition, having completed the restoration of the statue of St. Florian and the memorial lantern in the area of its heritage zone last year; the cemetery wall also underwent a demanding renovation, and work continued on St. George's Church.

Karlovy Vary has previously restored most of the structures in its heritage reserve. However, a long-term problem remains unresolved traffic accessibility in the town center and the so-called visual smog, which is the flood of inappropriate and tasteless advertising signs that devalue the architecture of Karlovy Vary, for which the town has not yet adopted any rules to limit. The spa town was also penalized because it has not updated its strategic development documents - the city's development program or the territorial plan.

A newcomer to the competition was Žlutice, which attracted attention especially for its extensive community and cultural activities as well as the restoration of one of the historical town houses, which will be starter apartments upon completion.

From the Karlovy Vary Region, Františkovy Lázně succeeded in the national round of the competition in 2004 and Cheb in 2014. This year, it has a chance again.