Žatec continues to strive for a UNESCO listing, a decision should be made next year

Žatec – Žatec in the Louny region continues to strive for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List. At the beginning of September, an expert from the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) visited the city and its surroundings to assess the readiness of Žatec's nomination and the landscape of Žatec hops. The Žatec working group is now working on supplementary information, said Deputy Mayor Jaroslav Špička. ICOMOS's recommendation is the basis for discussions at the World Heritage Committee, which will meet next summer.

The expert from the ICOMOS committee met with the preparatory group handling the nomination documentation, with representatives of hop-growing organizations, city officials, and local associations. They visited the areas with hop fields and hop-related facilities.

"We had to defend the management plan from the nomination documentation, the city’s intentions, and future plans. We were compiling the land-use plan and buffer zones. The commissioner was interested, for example, in the fate of hop-related facilities, former warehouses, and driers that are no longer used for hop processing," said the deputy mayor.

The city is now awaiting evaluation. "After the preparation of the official report, which will be submitted by the expert from the ICOMOS committee, the city will also receive any additional queries. We will have to address these and submit them by the end of this year. That will conclude the entire evaluation process for us and we will wait for the verdict," Špička stated.

Žatec has been striving for inclusion on the UNESCO list since 2014. Three years later, the World Heritage Committee recommended that the city revise its nomination documentation. It recommended expanding it to include the hop-growing landscape or the activities of the Hop Institute. The revised nomination was completed by the working group last year. A decision on the inscription is expected to be made next year at the turn of June and July.

The Czech Republic has 16 monuments and seven traditions inscribed on the UNESCO list. This year, the list was expanded to include the three West Bohemian spa towns of Karlovy Vary, Františkovy Lázně, and Mariánské Lázně, as well as the Jizera Mountains beech forests.