PRAGUE - The list of National Cultural Monuments, which until now comprised 196 items, will expand by two more - the television transmitter on Ještěd and the Vyšehrad Codex. This is a prestigious matter, intended only for the most valuable Czech monuments, as evidenced by the fact that the list was last expanded three years ago. The spectrum of National Cultural Monuments is very broad and ranges from the Celtic oppidum at Závist through a number of medieval castles (Karlštejn, Vyšehrad, Kunětická hora, and others) to the villa of architect Adolf Loos from the turn of the 1920s and 1930s. The list also includes several technical monuments, such as the remnants of the former horse-drawn railway from České Budějovice to Linz or the closed coal mines in the Ostrava region. Some monuments are also included on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list due to their extraordinary historical value. National Cultural Monuments began to be declared as early as 1962. The most of them are located in Prague (37) and the South Bohemian Region (25). In contrast, the least, two, are found in the Karlovy Vary region.
Ještěd Television TransmitterThe construction of the television transmitter and restaurant on Ještěd began in 1966 according to the project of architect Karel Hubáček. The ceremonial opening took place seven years later. The structure, located at an altitude of 1012 meters above sea level, has the shape of a rotational hyperboloid. Its shape naturally follows the contour of Ještěd Mountain. A significant contribution to the design of the building was made by the structural engineer Zdeněk Patrman, which allows the over ninety-meter-high transmitter to withstand strong wind gusts. For its elegance and practical use of modern technologies, the building received the prestigious Auguste Perret Prize in 1969. Besides the external appearance of the transmitter, experts also appreciated the original interior, from which, according to its author, architect Otakara Binara, "nothing remains today." Liberec and the Liberec region are striving for the inclusion of the building on the UNESCO list. "If the transmitter is to be included on the UNESCO list, it must be returned to its original state, but so far the hotel rooms are all whitewashed," Binar told MfD Magazine.
Vyšehrad Codex
Nearly nine hundred years separate the Ještěd lookout tower from the Vyšehrad Codex, the second monument newly added to the list. The Latin-written document is a memorial to the coronation of Prince Vratislav as the first Czech king in 1085. The work was commissioned by the Benedictines from Břevnov in Regensburg, Germany, for this occasion. The name of the codex is derived from the Vyšehrad chapter, which was founded by Vratislav and to which the codex was dedicated. The codex, which consists of 108 parchment pages, is one of the peak works of book painting of the Romanesque period not only in the Czech Republic but also in Europe. Experts estimate its value in the hundreds of millions of crowns.
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