The ministry declared only part of the Gothic cellars as a monument

Prague - The Ministry of Culture has declared only a part of the Gothic cellars near Prague's National Street as a cultural monument. A larger part near the department store will be preserved. CTK was informed today by Jan Kněžínek, head of the Prague heritage office. The declaration to this extent was requested by the investor who wants to build a multifunctional building called Copa center on the site. At the end of last year, the Ministry declared the entire cellars a monument at the request of archaeologists, but Culture Minister Jiří Besser (of TOP 09) canceled the decision and returned the matter for a new procedure.
     The decision was made by the department for heritage care of the Ministry, and participants in the proceedings now have time to submit an appeal, said Stanislav Brunclík, spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, to CTK. Archaeologists from the Academy of Sciences may do so. If no appeal is submitted, the document still needs to be signed by the minister. "He may or may not sign it, but only after the appeal period has expired," noted Brunclík. Besser has not seen the material so far; he has only been "generally informed" about it.
     Archaeologists from the Academy of Sciences disagree with the decision and will consider submitting an appeal after studying the justification, said Jan Mařík from the Archaeological Institute of the Academy of Sciences to CTK. The head of NPÚ archaeologists, Jaroslav Podliska, did not want to comment on the matter yet because he had not had the chance to study the justification. In the past, representatives of NPÚ, however, were not supportive of the approved variant.
     According to Mařík, the northern part of the cellars is to be declared a monument. It includes six rooms that make up three cellars. "They are in excellent condition," said Kněžínek. The smaller southern part, which is reportedly in poor condition according to representatives of Copa center and Kněžínek, should not be preserved. According to the archaeologists, the cellars should be preserved as a whole.
     People familiar with the circumstances of the case expected a similar decision. Some point out that the investor of the building is entrepreneur Sebastian Pawlowski, who has often been associated with the leadership of Prague in the past. For example, he rents Škodův palác to the city council.
The cellars were uncovered by archaeologists from the National Heritage Institute more than two years ago. They were aware of their existence, but were surprised by their condition.
     According to the archaeologists, the investor was also aware of the cellars and could therefore adapt the project. "None of the objections raised by the Copa center in the file state that the construction would not be feasible while preserving the cellars. I believe that the loss of five parking spaces does not represent a fundamentally significant issue," Mařík said last week.
     The decision is not favored by other experts as well. "I think this is not the right solution. It is one of the examples of how it should not be done," noted heritage conservationist and construction engineer Václav Jandáček. According to him, the entire area should have been declared a monument or none at all. Jakub Bachtík from the Club for Old Prague also opposes, labeling the decision as nonsensical. "I don't understand why the value of the southern cellars is lower than that of the northern ones," he said. "This is a precedent-setting decision that shows how the ministry will decide in this matter," he added.
     The criticism was already invoked by Besser's July decision, which canceled the declaration of the cellars as a monument. The minister has been sharply criticized in the past for other actions; reportedly, his decisions favor developers. Critics are unhappy with the approval of the demolition of a building on Wenceslas Square or the minister's stance in cases concerning the preservation of the Žižkov freight station.