The Monument of the Year in the Liberec Region is the reconstructed Liebieg Palace in Liberec

Liberec - The monument of the year 2022 in the Liberec region is the reconstructed Liebieg Palace in Liberec. The restoration of the monument, costing over a quarter of a billion crowns, was financed by the city of Liberec with the support of European funds and serves as a community center. This year, the jury selected from six entries, said Jan Mikulička, spokesperson for the Liberec region, to CTK today. The restoration of the Liebieg Palace also received the main Karel Hubáček award in the competition for Building of the Year in the Liberec region.

"The Liberec region wants to recognize and highlight the best and highest quality restorations of monuments. We significantly support these restorations through grant funds and individual subsidies, and I am very pleased that in recent years we are witnessing truly great and significant restorations in the region. An example is this year’s awarded monument - the Liebieg Palace," added Deputy Governor Květa Vinklátová (Mayors for the Liberec region). According to her, the winner will receive not only the prestigious title but also a glass plaque and a cash gift of 50,000 crowns.

This year, entries were received not only for the Liebieg Palace but also for the restoration of the pilgrimage church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Horní Police, which is a national cultural monument, the restoration of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Nový Oldřichov, the restoration of the interiors of the former hop dryer in Dubá, the restoration of the kindergarten on Husova Street in Jablonec nad Nisou, as well as the restoration of the perimeter masonry and timber framing of a house called Jechovsko in Železný Brod.

The competition was first announced in the Liberec region for the year 2015 and has a single category. In the past, however, it has happened twice that two objects received awards. As the Monument of the Year 2016 for the Liberec region, the renovation of the windows and the restoration of the artistic and craft elements of Dolení Mill in Bradlecká Lhota and the restoration of the castle in Svijany were awarded. A year later, the awards went to the restoration of the historical paper mill and mill in Hamr na Jezeře in the Česká Lípa district and also to the baroque castle complex in Návarov near Zlatá Olešnice in the Jablonec region.

Currently, according to Vinklátová, there are 2,248 immovable cultural monuments in the Liberec region, of which 39 are on the endangered list. "There is always something to support and to do. I am particularly pleased that the cases where owners let the monument decay to the point where it becomes only land are decreasing, but that they are increasingly trying to approach restorations with respect and are doing it well,” she added.