Reconstruction of the town hall tower in Znojmo will be completed at the beginning of the year, almost after three years

Znojmo - The reconstruction of the Znojmo town hall tower will be completed in January or February of next year, nearly three years after the work began. The original completion date, which was planned for autumn 2023, was extended because some structures were in much worse condition than expected. During the work, the city also decided that an exhibition about the town hall tower will be created on the second floor, said Mayor František Koudela (ODS) to ČTK.

The tower is almost 600 years old, dating back to the mid-15th century. The work included reconstructing the walkway, trusses, and cladding, but it became necessary to repair some other parts over time; Koudela mentioned, for example, the clock mechanism. Currently, scaffolding is present only on the side facing Obroková Street. "We would like to take it down by the beginning of Advent, which would allow unrestricted access to Obroková Street again. Whether this will be possible by the beginning of Advent is uncertain. Once the scaffolding is gone, people can look forward to the tower being illuminated for Christmas," said Koudela.

With the new electrical installation, the tower will be open year-round after the repairs and will not need to be closed for the winter. It will also be possible to conduct occasional tours of the cladding, which is double-layered, and visitors will be able to move between these layers. An exhibition about the tower will be created on the second floor. "We have many artifacts left over from the reconstruction, and we have interesting materials from historians and architects that we will include in the exhibition," said Koudela. The ground floor will host a modern information center with storage for bicycles and luggage.

In January or February, the city plans a grand opening and another celebration for the start of the tourist season in the spring. During this event, coins made from the original metal cladding of the tower from the late 16th century will also go on sale, which the city has commissioned to be minted. "Some impatient people are already asking us when they will be able to buy them," said Koudela. This is a replica of the so-called Znojmo coin, which was used as currency in the second half of the 15th century and, to a lesser extent, in the early 16th century. Several thousand of these coins have been minted, with 500 placed in metal boxes in the dome as part of a message to future generations.

The reconstruction of the tower was originally supposed to cost 30 million crowns, but this year the city added another 20 million.