<h1>Three Towns Compete for the Title of Historical City: Beroun, Jilemnice, and Šternberk</h1>

Prague - Beroun, Jilemnice, and Šternberk are competing for the title of Historical City of the Year 2008. The winner of the competition, who will receive one million crowns for further repairs of cultural monuments, will be announced on April 16, traditionally in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle. Today, the organizers informed journalists about the competition.
    The title of Historical City of the Year has been awarded since 1994 for the best preparation and implementation of the Urban Monument Reserve and Zone Regeneration Program, which is announced annually by the Ministry of Culture.
    "This year's novelty will be a prize for winning the regional round; each winner will receive 100,000 crowns, which will be added to the ministerial contribution from the regeneration program; this prize should also serve as a stimulus for other cities to participate in the competition," said Anna Matoušková, director of the Heritage Care Department of the Ministry of Culture.
    The organizers appreciate the Urban Monument Reserve and Zone Regeneration Program, particularly for the fact that it brings together state, municipal, and contributions from the owner of the monument for repairs. In the Czech Republic, there are about 40,000 immovable monuments and over forty monument reserves and zones, with 40 cities entering the competition this year that have a monument reserve or zone.
    The program has been operating since 1993; during this time, including this year, it has distributed 3.8 billion crowns. The cities themselves have spent ten billion crowns, and thanks to the program, local companies also benefit, which stimulates the economy, noted Petr Sedláček, chairman of the Association of Historical Sites of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. Together with the association, the competition is announced by the Ministries of Culture and Local Development.
    The Ministry announces several programs for the restoration of monuments, as it is legally obliged to compensate owners for having their properties declared monuments in the public interest. The total amount for the programs in recent years has been around 700 million crowns; however, the regeneration program has had approximately 150 million crowns available since 2005, which is significantly less than in the late 90s when the amount was doubled.
    Matoušková reminded that since last year there has been a new program supporting the restoration of monuments through municipalities with extended competence. This can help monuments not located in monument reserves and zones, for which previous programs were not available. Last year, this program distributed 194 million, resulting in the restoration of a thousand monuments. This year, the program has 170 million crowns.
    For the amount of money that the state spends on monument repairs, it sometimes receives criticism from representatives of other cultural fields for the lack of funds for supporting live art due to the focus on monuments. Nevertheless, according to the first deputy minister František Mikeš, the "accumulated neglect" of monuments in the country amounts to 60 billion crowns. One way to obtain more funds, according to him, is the effort to bring tourism under the Ministry of Culture, as it currently falls under the Ministry for Local Development. Minister Václav Jehlička wanted to push this initiative through the recently adopted cultural policy of the state, but the proposal was ultimately excluded from the document.