<div>State Castle in Telč awaits extensive reconstruction</div>

Telč - By the end of the year, the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) should have clarity on whether it will receive European funding from the IROP program for a extensive reconstruction of the state castle in Telč. Work on the project titled State Castle Telč - the Rose of Vysočina could begin in the middle of next year. The reconstructed castle is expected to welcome visitors in 2021. An archaeological survey is currently underway at the castle in advance. This was stated to journalists today by the director of the NPÚ regional office in České Budějovice, Petr Pavelec.

The project aimed at improving the quality and expanding visitor services has a budget of 240 million crowns, with the subsidy expected to cover 90 percent of the costs. If the funds from IROP are granted, the actual work would start after the completion of the implementation project documentation, no later than the second half of 2018.

"We would like to keep the castle at least partially open during the works, but we will adapt it to the current developments," said Pavelec. If the project does not receive funding, the work will take longer, according to Pavelec.

During the reconstruction, a new visitor center, a castle museum, and a newly installed depository should be created at the castle in Telč. A new year-round tour route will be operational. There is also a plan to restore the castle garden with the fountain and adjacent arcades.

In connection with the preparation for the reconstruction, archaeological research is taking place at the castle. Archaeologists from the Vysočina Museum are working on it. It began in October and is expected to last the entire month of November, depending on the weather.

Archaeologists have discovered a cultural layer from around the 15th century in several soundings in the castle courtyard and park. "We found ceramics, iron nails, and one of the finds is a Theresian thaler. The sounding in the park yielded human skeletal remains, which were presumably moved there from a disused cemetery," said Marek Krutiš from the archaeological department of the Vysočina Museum in Jihlava.