The new website of the Pilsen Region brings closer the monuments and the Baroque era

Plzeň - The Plzeň Region has launched a web portal www.zapadoceskebaroko.cz, where people can find a lot of information about Baroque monuments, cultural programs with Baroque themes, and expert information on painting, sculpture, or architecture. Baroque is a key theme in tourism in the Plzeň Region, especially in Northern Plzeň. A unique Baroque center is also being created in the former chapterhouse of the museum in Mariánský Týnec, Plzeň, Alena Svobodová, the head of heritage care and tourism at the regional office, told ČTK today.

The web portal, which the region acquired for 130,000 Czech crowns, will offer not only expert information about Baroque monuments but also interesting facts about the lifestyle in palaces and their surroundings during the Baroque period, pearls from the life of the nobility of that time, or recipes from Baroque cuisine. A Baroque cookbook should be created by the end of the year. "We want to guide people to taste a bit of Baroque life. It is not that far removed from our life, and we dare to say that now, after 300 years, we are returning to a colorful, positive, hedonistic way of life, just like Baroque was," said Svobodová.

The region’s portal builds on last year’s successful project "9 Weeks of Baroque," which took place throughout the region as part of the program of Plzeň - European Capital of Culture 2015. "It turned out that Baroque attracts people, that it is a very interesting and significant theme, and people asked a lot whether there would be something similar this year," said Svobodová. For this summer, over 20 cultural events at Baroque monuments are planned, including four large celebrations in Tachov, Hrádek near Sušice, Zelená Hora near Nepomuk, Manětín, and a festive evening in Mariánský Týnec, said Jiří Sulženko from the Plzeň 2015 company. The list of events is one of the parts of the new Baroque website.

According to Svobodová, the theme of Baroque is interesting from a tourism perspective. In Northern Plzeň, there is a Baroque triangle of buildings - the Plasy Monastery, the town of Manětín, and Mariánský Týnec; the local landscape is also interwoven with Baroque churches, sculptures, paths, and former noble estates. "It is very interesting for people to discover all of this. And when you look around well, you are right in Baroque," added Svobodová.