Spa towns will submit the nomination for the UNESCO list

Karlovy Vary - European spa towns striving for a joint inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List will submit their nomination documentation on Tuesday in Paris. This will conclude an eight-year preparation process. Representatives of all 11 towns from seven European countries, including Karlovy Vary, Mariánské and Františkovy Lázně, will participate in the documentation handover. The Czech Spa Towns - Salons of Europe union, which groups spa towns from the Czech Republic, informed ČTK about this today.

"Throughout the entire preparation of the nomination documentation, which involved dozens of experts from seven countries, it was necessary to harmonize the approach of all 11 towns, resolve different approaches to various issues, and deal with the diverse interpretations of legislation in all member countries," stated the former mayor of Karlovy Vary, Petr Kulhánek (KOA), who has been involved in the preparation for a long time.

The Great Spas of Europe are, according to the proposers, evidence of the phenomenon of European spa culture, which flourished particularly from the 18th century to the 1930s. As meeting places for people from all over Europe, they had a tremendous significance for the democratization of European society.

Michal Urban, chairman of the international working group that prepared the documents, believes that the application has a significant chance of success. However, now the towns will wait for the most significant stage of the process, which will be the actual assessment of the application by UNESCO and its professional organization, ICOMOS. "We have completed an important step, but a lot of work is still ahead of us," noted Urban.

According to the mayor of Karlovy Vary, Andrea Pfeffer Ferklová (ANO), the towns have further tasks ahead. "It is necessary to communicate the entire UNESCO project well not only with citizens but also with the professional and business community. It is essential to harmonize the interests and needs of the city's residents, spa guests, and visitors," stated Pfeffer Ferklová.

"The towns await the completion of the so-called management plans and their translation. This should be done by April," said the mayor of Františkovy Lázně, Jan Kuchař (PRO Zdraví a sport). "Experts from ICOMOS will probably visit the individual towns in the autumn to compare the submitted materials with the actual state. Concurrently, anonymous experts from around the world will assess the application. The actual inscription will then be voted on at the UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting at the turn of June and July next year. Ideally, the Great Spas of Europe will be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2020," described Kuchař the nomination process.

Eleven European spa towns are seeking inscription: Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Františkovy Lázně, the German towns of Baden-Baden, Bad Ems, and Bad Kissingen, the Belgian town of Spa, the French Vichy, the Italian Montecatini Terme, the Austrian town of Baden near Vienna, and the City of Bath from England.