The palace gardens under the Castle are awaiting renovation, but they will remain accessible

Prague - The National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) plans to begin restoring the Palace Gardens beneath Prague Castle in phases starting next year. The gardens, which connect Malá Strana with the Castle, are expected to remain accessible during the repairs. According to the NPÚ, which has managed the gardens for the past six years, the complex is in a state of emergency from a construction perspective. This is due to poor technologies from the 1990s and long-standing mistakes made by the institution. This was stated today by the director of NPÚ, Naďa Goryczková. NPÚ will request 45 million crowns from the ministry for the repairs of all five gardens, which are expected to last five years.

"The condition of the gardens is largely quite dismal; however, there is absolutely no risk of static faults that would endanger the lives of employees or visitors," she said. The reason the gardens are so degraded is mainly due to rising and seeping moisture, of which there are two causes: the restoration from the first half of the 1990s, during which technologies and materials that were then recommended but not completely verified were used. "Practice has shown that they were not entirely suitable. The second reason is related to the termination of an unfavorable lease for the gardens to a company that did not maintain them in accordance with the contract," the director said.

In the past, NPÚ has been putting together the gardening aspect of the space, and is now applying for a grant for the construction renewal from the Ministry of Culture, of which it is a subsidized organization. If it receives the funds and the tender for the contractor proceeds without delays, the first phase of construction could begin in the second half of 2017. During the construction, which is planned for two years, the second phase of the complex's renewal will be prepared, ideally starting in 2019, the director reported.

The ensemble consists of five gardens between Valdštejnská Street and the southern terraces of Prague Castle - Ledebourská, Malá and Velká Palffyovská, Kolovratská, and Malá Fürstenberská. According to conservationists, the structures of the gardens are severely stressed by significant temperature fluctuations resulting from their location on a southern slope. The plaster and crowns of the walls particularly require continuous intensive maintenance and comprehensive renewal every two decades.