The Pardubice Region has started the reconstruction of the Pardubice Castle

Pardubice - The Pardubice Region has begun an extensive reconstruction of the Pardubice Castle. The palace and the farm buildings will change their appearance, exhibition halls will be built in the place of former castle granaries, and new exhibitions will be created. The construction work will last approximately two years, stated Zuzana Nováková from the governor's office in a press release.

In the castle palace, builders will prepare spaces for a new exhibition titled Pernštejn Residence - The Earliest Renaissance in Bohemia. They will modify surfaces and floor compositions, repair damaged plaster parts, and restore masonry elements.

In the current carpentry shop in building number 2, there will be space for the Pernštejn Armory exhibition. The lecture hall on the ground floor of this building will be renovated, and an educational and artistic studio will be created on the upper floor. New exhibition halls will also be built in the adjoining two wings of the original granaries. Behind the farm buildings, there will be facilities for workshop operations. The long-term presentation plan for the Pardubice Castle as the Pernštejn residence was developed and commented on by three significant architects, Josef Pleskot, Ladislav Lábus, and Petr Všetečka.

The work will also affect the operation of the East Bohemian Museum, which is located in the castle. "During the reconstruction, we plan to keep the exhibitions Pardubice - The Story of the City and the archaeological exhibition Against the Current accessible to the public, and the glass exhibition will remain open until further notice. Visitors can still visit the exhibitions Passion, Time and Glass, and Pardubice Transformations until January 27," said museum director Tomáš Libánek. Tours of the knight's halls and the Chapel of the Three Kings will end on February 24.

Although the knight's halls will not be accessible during the reconstruction, the museum will offer this year tours of the civil defense shelter, the castle complex, the historical core of the city, or a walk around modern architecture in Pardubice. Starting this spring, there will be new tours for children dedicated to discovering Pardubice legends and the historical center, as well as the secrets of the civil defense shelter. Some traditional events are also planned, such as Museum Night, Children's Day, or the Pernštejn(l)ove Theater Festival. The museum is also working on new exhibitions of glass and numismatics and will gradually start preparing exhibitions for the new halls.

The Pardubice Region has obtained a grant for the repairs from the European Integrated Territorial Investments Program ITI of the Hradec Králové-Pardubice agglomeration. Out of a total of 119 million crowns including VAT, 95 million crowns will be covered. Additional costs will arise from the new interior furnishings and the Pernštejn Residence exhibition - The Earliest Renaissance in Bohemia. Their establishment will smoothly follow the construction work.

The Gothic-Renaissance castle in Pardubice was built by the Pernštejn family on the site of an older fortress. In 1560, the Pernštejns sold Pardubice to the king. Under the chamber estate, the castle increasingly fell under commercial interests of the large estate. There was a brewery, a textile factory, but also apartments for retired officers. In 1920, the Museum Society purchased the castle with contributions from the city and other history enthusiasts. The monument now belongs to the Pardubice Region.