Kroměříž

Kroměříž is a small Moravian city half way between Brno and Olomouc and it is renowned for its Baroque architecture, so renowned that UNESCO has made it giving it World Heritage Site listing because The Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a princely residence and its associated landscape of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble, and in particular the pleasure garden, played a significant role in the development of Baroque garden and palace design in central Europe.

The best way to take in the sites is to follow the UNESCO Way. This signposted route takes you past some (but not all of the city sites). It starts at the gate to the Palace Garden, a large landscaped park with some more formal features. The next major stop is the Archbishop's Baroque Palace itself. There are several tours of the Palace complex to choose from, of the Archbishop's sumptuous state and private rooms, the Archbishop's picture gallery with paintings by Titian, Cranach,, Durer, Van Dyke and other masters, or the Palace Tower to gain a birdseye view of the city. From the Palace the Way winds through the city streets past two major churches of St John and St Maurice, before ending at what is for me the highlight of Kroměříž - The Flower Garden. This Baroque pleasure garden is a unique example of garden design and architecture of this period (1665). Take your time here to wander through the flowerbeds, through the statue-lined arcade and then climb up on to the viewing platform on the arcade's roof.

If all this sightseeing has given you a thirst, walk to the Large Square where  the Cerny Orel hotel and pub has its very own microbrewery. I tried to buy some beer to take home, but the bottle leaked all over the car boot, so now I just enjoy a glass or three when I am there.

Here's a video of some of the Baroque delights of Kroměříž:

UNESCO Acts, Let Us Hope In Time

We have heard that UNESCO has asked Cesky Krumlov Town Council a series of questions about the riverworks , to which it requires answers by Monday. All of us who have been expressing our fears about the environmental and heritage impact of the works are incredibly grateful to UNESCO for this. Only UNESCO has the power to (at least temporarily) halt the damage and only then I believe if there have been procedural faults in the approval process. We need UNESCO to ensure that the response it receives is full and verifiable - we have been unable to do so ourselves. And we need UNESCO if it finds faults to act on them. Our main desire is to stop and repair (where possible) the damage. We certainly do not want the World Heritage Site status removed, it is our main hope of protecting this precious town.

To elaborate:

a) there is a need for speed in any action that is taken, given the rate with which the damage is being done and continues to be done. Is there any way UNESCO could ask for the works to be paused while they consider the report?



The authorities have only been working on the area under Cesky Krumlov Castle for a week but look what has happened in that time. A temporary island has been formed consisting of material which has been dredged up from the riverbed by the diggers. The transformation can be seen by comparing my photos above with the panorama show on the Council's own website

http://www.fotogalerie.ckrumlov.cz/php/fotogalerie/panorama/index.php?lang=cz&vr=9

I was able to identify within the rubble a number of stones which appear to have been elements of man-made structures. A number more are lying on the shore (see photos below), including a date stone showing MDCXXV.



b) The second issue is this: inside the Town Hall UNESCO's request will have been met with alarm, especially as the Town Hall (unlike with UNESCO's previous report) has so little time to respond. If the Town Hall has the answers to UNESCO's questions then they should have no problem. But given their inability to answer the questions of objectors, including requests for detailed plans, one suspects that this is not the case. The onerous task of responding will have fallen on the local Branch of The National Institute for th Protection and Conservation Of Monuments and Sites. The officers involved are employed by the Town Council.

There appear to have been several procedural faults. It appears there are no minutes of any committee that approved this project. It is my understanding that, in order for the outline permission to be given, the conservation officers' agreement would be needed, but that for the later detailed plans and changes to the outline that officers 'views might not have been sought. Clearly some permission was given but on the basis of what? What important changes and additions were there in the final plans (if they exist)? Did they for example include the removal of the island? What permission was given at this stage and again on the basis of what?

The officers involved are dedicated professionals, who are between a rock and a hard place. I know from personal experience the pressure that one comes under from politicians and other officers in such circumstances, and that was in the UK where there is a long tradition of an independent civil service which exists to serve the people not its political masters. Any report written in such circumstances needs to be considered very carefully, in the end it's only verifiable evidence that can be believed.

Obviously I have no knowledge of the content of the report, nor do I have access to it. But then nobody else has either.

The rotating theatre

Regular readers of my blog will know my views of the need for UNESCO to protect the important historic buildings of Cesky Krumlov against the pressures of commercialism. I welcomed their call for an audit of historical buildings.

One of the conditions of World Heritage site listing was the removal of the rotating auditorium from its current site in the Castle Gardens next to the Bellarie Summerhouse, which was built in the rococo style in the mid 1700's. The summerhouse is a remarkable and beautiful building and the UNESCO argument is that it should be seen in its natural setting without the intrusion of a modern open-air theatre auditorium. As someone who has specialised in rococo gardens - I formally ran a heritage centre in Vauxhall, which was built on the site of Vauxhall Spring Gardens, the most famous of all rococo gardens - I am acutely aware of the rareness of such gems.

That said there are many fans for the auditorium in its current position. I would recommend that visitors to Cesky Krumlov make a point of experiencing the magic of a performance in the gardens, before we lose the auditorium from its current site. Throughout the summer there are operas and plays staged in the gardens and whilst the performers can be of varying quality the theatre works wonderfully in the setting. You sit on the raked seating under the stars (or rain if you are unlucky) and the performance takes place around you - in the gardens and on the terrace of the summer house. The 360-degree rotation of the auditorium allows this action to take place anywhere within sight of the audience and anywhere that suits the drama. We watched Dvorak's opera Rusalka and the scene moved from the court to the lake home of the water sprite heroine and back again easily with the turn of the auditorium.

If, as they must to meet UNESCO demands, the Cesky Krumlov authorities do move the auditorium, it is hard to see where it can go and have the same magic. I do think the auditorium is in the way of seeing the summerhouse properly in its setting, although sitting in the empty auditorium does give you a great view. I also think far more could be made of the summerhouse to enable visitors to appreciate it, for starters I would love to be able to look inside. But at the end of the day I do wonder whether some compromise might not be the best solution. When I was researching the Vauxhall pleasure gardens and their rococo structures, I became aware of the theatricality of the period - rococo is nothing if not artifice. The auditorium whilst not in keeping architecturally with its historic surroundings, undoubtedly is in terms of spirit.

Of stones and crop circles

I return to the Czech Republic in a week's time, but already my thoughts bend that way. Today being a bright crisp Winter's day, my husband and I made the trip to Avebury. The sun was low even in the middle of the day and the stones cast long shadows over the winter grass.

Like Cesky Krumlov, Avebury set in its unique prehistoric environment is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Even in the Winter the place has its visitors and yet it still has tremendous power - a power that demands wonder. The scale of the place is remarkable - the ditch and rampart that ring the site are quite enormous, despite the wear of time and browsing sheep. I took this photo of a mother and child in the ditch to show this and then I saw the shadow of a standing stone beside them.

All my Czech friends would love this place. They have bought the whole "new age" thing hook, line and sinker. They talk of ley lines, crystals, standing stones, and crop circles - Avebury would blow their minds.

I am often overwhelmed by the stunning landscape around Krumlov and the way in Krumlov one can feel the past as though it is walking alongside you. And in so doing I forget that this country too is just as powerful in its gentle rolling way.