Plasy will renovate the Metternich tomb for 18 million CZK, aiming to attract more foreign visitors

Plasy – Plasy in the Pilsen region will begin restoring the tomb of the noble family Metternich next year for 18 million crowns, which is owned by the city. They aim to connect it touristically with the frequently visited area of the Plasy monastery. It should be completed by the year 2023, which will mark the anniversary of Metternich, and it should attract foreigners, especially Austrians, said Mayor Zdeněk Hanzlíček (ČSSD) to ČTK. The National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) is also planning a permanent Metternich exhibition in the monastery in Plasy by 2023, in the building of the Baroque prelature, which is currently being renovated for 150 million crowns.

Plasy, with its 2,800 residents, is seeing an increasing number of tourists, mainly to the monastery, the center of construction, to the Metternich tomb, the cast iron museum, the zoo, the brewery, for golf, the natural swimming pool, and for cycling and nature trips. In regular years, the city attracts 100,000 to 110,000 visitors annually. According to Hanzlíček, this year’s attendance is also expected to be high, up to 80,000 people. "After the easing of anti-epidemic restrictions, they began coming in full force from spring," he said.

According to the mayor, the tomb is among the very significant attractions in the city. "We have applied for a grant of about 13.5 million from the European IROP program and we have high hopes of obtaining it. Let's hope that next year, sometime in the middle of the year, we can start," he stated. The city has already drained the site for three million crowns. Now builders are renewing the roofing and trusses, and in the last stage, they will repair the facade and interior.

The NPÚ is also preparing exhibitions and installations related to the noble family Metternich for 2023. They will be created in the former prelature, a two-winged two-story house of the abbot, also called a castle, whose reconstruction has also been supported by the European IROP program. "The exhibition will focus primarily on the period of Richard Metternich (son of the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and State Chancellor), who contributed most to the city and spent the most time here. It will be an accessible installation, which is a new venture for the NPÚ; we want to try it out. So, there will be two tour routes in the area - the castle (prelature) and the monastery," said the castle curator Pavel Duchoň. The rooms and corridors will be as authentic as possible according to the inventories of the Metternich estate. The monastery has a large collection of Metternich images, which is currently being restored, and the furnishings will be loaned from the Metternich Castle Kynžvart.