4. UNESCO SIGHTS IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

4. THE CZECH REPUBLIC- UNESCO SIGHTS

• Why was UNESCO founded?

• Name the most important UNESCO sights in your country.

• Choose two or three and describe them in detail.

Firstly, let me explain you, what UNESCO is. The united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization is one of the international specialized agency of OSN. It´s placed in Paris. UNESCO includes 195 members.

Because of the state’s long and eventful history, there are numerous castles (kasls), palaces and places of interest, and 12 of them are on the UNESCO list. They are these: the Historical centre of Prague, Český Krumlov, Telč, The Pilgrimage Church of Jan Nepomuk in Zelená Hora, Kutná hora, Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape, Holašovice, Kroměříž Castle and Garden, Litomyšl Castle, Holy Trinity column Olomouc, Vila Tugendhat in Brno and Třebíč, which was added at the latest (in 2003).

I would like to speak more about Kutná hora and Lednice-Valtice cultural landscape, because I´ve been there and I really liked it for its wonderful atmosphere. Kutná hora is a medieval mining town, which became rich because of its silver deposits, by the way there are mines still opened for visitors, what’s amazing experience. Kutná hora is also famous for its historical centre and overwhelming Cathedral of St. Barbara. This eye-catching piece of Gothic architecture was begun in 1388 but wasn’t completed until 1905. The construction was often interrupted as the town suffered from wars, flood and financial collapse following the closure of the mines. It’s named by St.Barbara, who is a patron of miners. Kutná Hora was added in UNESCO list in 1995.

Now let’s move a bit further to the South Moravia, where we can explore Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape. As every Czech knows, “lednice” means fridge, but this chateaux complex is unlikely leave you feeling frosty. This impressive combination of Baroque and Neo-Gothic styles stands in the largest park in the Czech Republic and is an important example of romantic landscape design. In one place, you can find a plenty of amusing buildings such as the most impressive castle Lednice, Janův castle, Minaret or chateau greenhouse.

I’ve visited more culture heritage sights as Olomouc, what was very interesting, Villa Tugendhat in Brno and as I live in Praque, the historical centre of Prague as well. Honestly, I really enjoyed them all, but a little bit less villa Tugendhat, because I didn’t like its architectural (arKitecture) style. Anyway I would like to visit another UNESCO sights in The Czech republic, for example I’m quite interested in The Pilgrimage Church of Jan Nepomuk, because its seemed really amazing! It’s built in form of star by architecture Santini and the building includes a lot of complex symbolism based on number five. I believe that if someone wants to travel, he should start in his own country.