The historic town of the year 2018 is Brtnice in the Jihlava region

Prague – The historic city of the year 2018 is Brtnice in the Jihlava region. It received an award for the best care for monuments and a reward of one million crowns for further care of cultural heritage. The organizers announced the winners of the competition at Prague Castle. The title of Historic City of the Year is awarded annually on the occasion of the International Day of Monuments and Sites, celebrated on April 18. The traditional ceremony in the Spanish Hall was held in the spirit of commemorating the fire at the Parisian cathedral of Notre-Dame.

The competition is organized by the Association of Historical Sites of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, and the ministries of culture and local development, which appreciate the best implementation of the Program for the Regeneration of Urban Monument Reserves and Zones. The program pools funds for repairs from state, municipal, and private sources. The Minister for Local Development's award and a reward of 100,000 crowns were today given to Frenštát pod Radhoštěm and Klatovy. The 100,000 crown reward also belongs to all 14 regional finalists.

"I am thrilled, happy, I didn't expect it. I am very pleased, and we will of course use the money for the monuments, I haven't decided yet which one. It will probably be the granary; we are restoring the lordly granary, or for the castle park," said the mayor of Brtnice, Miroslava Švaříčková, to CTK. She previously stated that the repair of the historical granary will cost about 1.5 million crowns this year. Conservators will restore the painting in the second above-ground floor, and new windows and doors will be installed. Surveys in the granary uncovered drawings from the 17th century, including one depicting a soldier from the Thirty Years' War. Conservators will work on the decoration until autumn.

In the area of the Brtnice Urban Monument Reserve, there are 29 cultural monuments, and the city is involved in the restoration of the local castle. Similar to other cities competing in the contest, Brtnice has its own program to support those buildings that are located within the monument reserve but are not itself protected; their owners do not qualify for state subsidies. Last year, the program allocated 1.975 million crowns for the restoration of seven cultural monuments. The city also contributes to the restoration of ecclesiastical monuments; in recent years, several monument-protected houses, votive columns, fountains, and statues on two bridges have been restored, and the town hall has been renovated.

Brtnice Castle is the dominant structure in the city. It took its current form with three courtyards during the Renaissance. Another significant monument in Brtnice is the birthplace of architect Josef Hoffmann. The residents of Brtnice are also engaged in local tradition, which includes the plague columns, for which they are preparing a permanent exhibition.

Among this year's finalists, alongside the awarded ones, were Uherské Hradiště, Boskovice, Prague 1, České Budějovice, Horní Slavkov, Hradec Králové, Lipník nad Bečvou, Lomnice nad Popelkou, Mšeno, Ústí nad Orlicí, and Žatec.

In the Czech Republic, there are approximately 40,000 immovable monuments and over four dozen reserves and zones. Since 1993, the state has distributed approximately 5.2 billion crowns in the mentioned program, and 16,651 monuments have been repaired. The total cost of restoration, including contributions from cities and other entities, is 13.5 billion crowns.