140 years ago, the cornerstone was laid for the National Theatre

Prague - Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes eagerly watched on May 16, 1868, as František Palacký and other prominent figures of Czech social life tapped the foundation stone for the National Theatre with a gilded hammer on the Vltava riverbank. A capsule was embedded in it, which, in addition to the founding document, hid the theatre's plans, a commemorative brochure, coins, banknotes, newspapers, magazines, and a piece of mortar from the Constance prison of Master Jan Hus.
Originally, a stone from the sacred Říp mountain was chosen as the foundation stone of the Czech theatre, but the nationwide patriotic enthusiasm led other regions of Bohemia and Moravia to also place their stones into the foundations. The exact number of donated stones is not known today. The preserved list records 21 items, and an additional three stones were brought in later. However, the stone from Říp did not become the "hero" of the ceremonial act. Due to the escalating disputes over which place in the country is the most significant and memorable, the committee ultimately diplomatically chose a stone from a randomly selected neutral and unknown location. Thus, the true foundation stone is a granite block from Louňovice in the Černokostelecko region.
The foundations of the National Theatre, built from monetary donations from societies and ordinary people, were completed in November of the same year. By the end of 1877, it was already covered with a roof. Internal and external decorations remained, and in June 1881, the nearly completed theatre opened with a ceremonial performance of Smetana's opera Libuše. However, during the finishing works, a fire broke out three months later, so the patriots had to wait another two years for their desired golden chapel - until November 18, 1883.