Kutná Hora is preparing a reconstruction of the Sankturin House

Kutná Hora - Kutná Hora is preparing the reconstruction of the Sankturin House on Palackého náměstí; the city also plans to renovate the adjacent park. The work will cost 29 million crowns, most of which will be covered by a grant. The gallery of Felix Jenewein is set to relocate from its current premises in Vlašský dvůr to the historically protected building, one of the oldest in the city, Mayor Martin Starý (Kutnohorská změna) told ČTK.

"The project documentation and necessary materials for the application are being prepared. The application should be submitted in the autumn," Starý stated. An information center will remain on the ground floor of the Sankturin House. The newly utilized attic spaces will also include public access to the Gothic tower with painted chambers. According to architect Markéta Šedivá, a Renaissance sciences exhibition is to be created in the new spaces, which will showcase, among other things, the former silver production.

Originally a Gothic house, now baroque, it was built at the end of the 13th century as a fortified tower structure for manufacturing purposes. Silver ore was processed in the metallurgical facilities here. "This house is very significant; I would say it certainly belongs to the core collection of the most important monuments of Kutná Hora, much like the Kamenný or Dačického house," said heritage expert Aleš Pospíšil to ČTK.

Among its specialties is a historic tower, whose foundations go down to a depth of 7.5 meters. On its second floor, there is a chapel with a unique late Gothic vault. "It was probably originally a metallurgical tower or a tower belonging to some fortified courtyard where silver ore was processed," Pospíšil noted.

He reminded that the original Kutná Hora Town Hall occupied a larger part of today's Palackého náměstí, and the wealthiest Kutná Hora patricians owned the neighboring houses. The Sankturin House was purchased at the end of the 15th century by mint master Beneš from Trničí, who transformed it into a luxurious palace. "He even utilized the furnace located in the cellars of the house and had warm air ducts made that go through the tower's walls and heated the house," added the heritage expert. However, during a large fire in the city center in 1770, the house burned down, and in the later reconstruction, it took on its present form.