On the weekend, people will be able to view the Larisch Villa for the first time

Pardubice – During the European Heritage Days, 64 sites will be open to the public this weekend in the Pardubice Region. These will mainly include churches and other ecclesiastical buildings, historic buildings, museums and galleries, as well as Svojanov Castle. For the first time, people will be able to view the renovated parts of the Larisch Villa in Pardubice, the so-called castle, where Nazis imprisoned, interrogated, and executed residents of the village of Ležáky at a nearby execution site during the period of the heydrichiáda.

"We have completely reconstructed the turret, and especially as a memorial site, there are three cellars where the residents of Ležáky were held. Masks will be required during the tours, and disinfectants will be available," said František Bobek from the Czechoslovak Legionnaires' Association, which is gradually restoring the building. This weekend, there will also be games and contests for children and lectures by historians and researchers for adults.

The Legionnaires' Association is striving to save the villa, which it acquired in 2015, and to establish museum exhibitions focused on the heydrichiáda period, domestic and foreign resistance, and last but not least, the history of the so-called Castle from its inception in 1885. Pardubice and the Pardubice Region have committed to gradually contribute 15 million crowns each towards the reconstruction.

From sites that are usually not accessible, people in the region will be able to see, for example, the August Printing House in Litomyšl, the cemetery church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Heřmanův Městec, the Church of the Holy Trinity in Vysoké Mýto, or the Pardubice Brewery. A complete list of opened sites is available on the European Heritage Days website.