The Znojmo Town Hall wants to know from the citizens what to do with the monastery in Louka

ZNOJMO - The Znojmo city council wants to know the opinion of the city's residents on the future of the Louka Monastery. It currently belongs to the state and has been deteriorating for several years. The city has already requested a free transfer of the site several times, but so far it has not succeeded, said Deputy Mayor Josef Molín to ČTK today. The conference on the future of one of the largest Czech monasteries was part of the 11th edition of the For Arch Znojmo 2006 exhibition, which began today at the Louka site.
The state can either sell the site or transfer it to the city, Molín believes. "However, if a private owner takes over the monastery and the surrounding land, it may happen that the land is sold at a profit and the monastery itself will continue to deteriorate," he asserts. Therefore, the city council would like to obtain the monument for its management. However, there are no specific plans for it yet. "Many projects have already been created, but no one has yet presented a complete proposal," said the deputy mayor.
According to him, part of the site should be used for commercial purposes and part for non-profit organizations. However, the solution is stalled because the state has not yet decided on the fate of the monastery. The city first requested the transfer in 2004 and repeated its request at the beginning of this year. According to Molín, the public is also very interested in the fate of the building, but even they are not united in their views on further use. "Citizens must participate in that debate just like conservationists and other institutions," he stated.
The Louka Monastery was founded in 1190. Emperor Joseph II placed a military academy in it. The inventor of the lightning rod, Prokop Diviš, also worked in Louka. Until 1993, the army was based at the site, then the district office in Znojmo took over the building, managing to repair the damaged roofs. A part of the extensive building was reconstructed by the company Znovín Znojmo, which established its wine shop there. The monastery is looking for several other tenants as well. In 2003, the Premonstratensians returned to the monastery rectory.