<p>The historical town of the year 2007 is Jindřichův Hradec</p>

Prague - The historic city of the year 2007 has today become Jindřichův Hradec. The award is a reward for the best care of monuments within a program announced by the Ministry of Culture. The South Bohemian town has been nominated for the third time this year. The winner receives not only recognition for how well they care for their monuments but also one million crowns for further enhancement and accessibility to the public.
    The announcement took place today traditionally in the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle; along with the winner, Šternberk and Uherské Hradiště were also among the three nominees.
    "I am convinced that we take care of our city and that it is not just a backdrop for tourists; we have almost everything restored," said the mayor of Jindřichův Hradec, Karel Matoušek, who has held his position for ten years and has already stood as a representative of the nominated city at the award ceremony twice.
    "I always thought we probably wouldn't succeed. When I stood here in 2000, the mayor of (the winning) Kutná Hora mentioned the amount they had already invested in monuments in their city, and it was very high. But now, when I think about it unexpectedly, we are getting close to that amount. Winning this award is a long-distance run," he added.
    On the other hand, the mayor of Šternberk, Jaromír Sedlák, was not pleased with the decision. "It is a disappointment for us, but I believe it will heal over time," said Sedlák to ČTK. He also added that he is the only mayor who has experienced something like this. "I have been in office for two years; we were in the finals twice and failed both times," he listed. He was even more upset that the town would not receive the reward of one million crowns, which is solely granted to the winner.
    The custodian of the Jindřichův Hradec Castle, Václav Bis, told ČTK that the city should have received this award long ago. "The city as a complex with the castle is truly something exceptional, something exclusive," he emphasized. According to him, the title will primarily help raise the city's profile and attract more tourists.
    "It is a tremendous success. I was afraid that we would lose the top position by a hair," rejoiced archaeologist Vladislav Burian from the Jindřichův Hradec Museum. He added that Jindřichův Hradec deserves the recognition simply because the castle and fortress complex is the third largest in the republic after Prague Castle and Český Krumlov Castle. It also has many other monuments, such as the world-famous Krýzovy Jesličky.
    The biggest success of Jindřichův Hradec last year, according to competition organizers, was the completion of the repair of the paradise courtyard of the former Jesuit college, which houses the National Museum of Photography. Last year, the ministerial program allocated nearly 2.4 million crowns for several repairs of houses and other monuments, including repairs to the city walls and gardens of the Minorite monastery.
    The title of Historic City of the Year has been awarded since 1994 for the best preparation and implementation of the Program for the Regeneration of Urban Heritage Reserves and Zones, which is announced annually by the Ministry of Culture. The program has existed for 15 years, and experts appreciate it mainly because it gathers state, municipal, and contributions from the monument's owner for repairs. Last year, 712 monuments were repaired thanks to contributions from the program.
    The competition is organized by the Association of Historical Settlements of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry for Regional Development.
    The mayors of the winning and nominated cities, along with representatives from another ten cities from other regions, received awards today for the best results in the regional rounds of the same competition; 42 cities from all regions except Prague participated in the competition this year.