In Žatec, after nearly six years of effort, the renovated Meder's House has opened

Žatec – Today, after nearly six years of effort, the restored historical Meder House was opened in Žatec in the Louny region. The local association has prepared a small museum that highlights the lives of the original inhabitants, the recent renovation, and the history of the house and the city. Visitors can also view the treasure of Meder House, which was discovered during its rescue. Monika Merdová, one of the exhibition's authors, said this to ČTK today. One of the oldest houses in Žatec was declared the monument of the year 2020 in the Ústí nad Labem Region last year.

"The house is divided chronologically; the lower floor deals with the time of its origin, that is, the Middle Ages. There are interactive rooms, and in the cellar, visitors can walk among the inhabitants through the centuries. Upstairs are the living spaces, the Meder salon, and the kitchen, which date back to the 1920s. The visitor can stay there, make tea, or read newspapers, feeling the atmosphere," described the exhibition's author.

Numerous experts participated in the nearly two-year preparations for the exhibition, which cost about 1.5 million crowns, including architects, archaeologists, historians, graphic designers, and craftsmen. Original items found during the recent renovation are also exhibited here. Fragments of pottery, tools used by butchers, and original beams of the house have been preserved, for example. There is also the so-called treasure of Meder House on display. It consists of four coins that were placed in the floor along with the skeleton of a rooster in the mid-17th century. The coins were minted between 1527 and 1645. They were presumably part of an offering and were meant to serve as a magical tool to protect the building.

Meder House, named after its last German owners, has stood in the center of the city for several centuries. It is one of the oldest houses in Žatec. The first written mention appears in the city book in 1564 when the house was owned by Regina Bříšková. However, the house is demonstrably much older, as proven by its late Gothic foundations, making it one of the first examples of medieval urban construction in the country.

The rescue of the bourgeois house, which was in a state of emergency, began six years ago. Initially, preparatory work was done, including archaeological research, while the actual construction work began two years later. It cost nearly 21 million crowns. Most of the funding came from European grants from the Integrated Regional Operational Program for the rescue of monuments, with a smaller portion of the costs covered by local entrepreneurs.

The restoration of the house in the heart of the protected zone is also praised by the city's leadership. "The association for the restoration of Meder House has shown something that could set an example. They perfectly succeeded in restoring a monument that was facing certain demise, while retaining only the outer walls," said the deputy mayor of the city, Jaroslav Špička (BEZPP). He stated that the house could attract more tourists to the city.