The municipality rented the Zelená Hora castle to the French for 60 years

Monastery (Nepomucko) - Zelená Hora Castle, known thanks to the novel by Miloslav Švandrlík "Černí baroni," has been definitively leased for sixty years to the French investment and hotel association CCEC. They plan to convert it into a luxury hotel with a brewery and accommodation, while the appearance of the monument will not change much. After five years of negotiations between the French and the municipality, the lease agreement from 2007 has come into effect. The site will be handed over by mid-February, said Josef Rota, the mayor of the municipality of Klášter near Nepomuk, to which the monument has belonged since 1991.
"The French had long insisted in the lease agreement that they would only proceed with the project if they secured European grants. They dropped this condition before the end of the year," he added. Another condition for the lease to take effect from the New Year was the payment of a reservation fee, which the French transferred to the municipality on December 31. Rota refused to disclose the amount, citing an agreement with the investor, as well as the timelines for reconstruction and its planned costs; last year, a figure of 700 million crowns was discussed. The lessee must now insure the building, monitor it, and perform maintenance there, Rota said.
The investor, who obtained zoning approval last year and also has a binding opinion from heritage conservationists regarding the reconstruction, has already applied for a building permit. From the castle, which is empty, a hotel with a swimming pool will be created, and in the agricultural buildings of the Šternberský dvůr, which the municipality acquired only in 2004, there will be a brewery, an exhibition hall, cheaper accommodation, and stables.
CCEC, which has already provided the municipality with millions of crowns for the repair of roofs, facades, retaining walls, maintenance, and the purchase of remaining plots, is focusing its investments on the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, where, according to Rota, it already has luxury hotels. The company will start paying the municipality rent only after several years, but Rota did not specify a precise timeline or amount. "They will pay it even if they do not have anything operational. It will be quite a sum for a small village," added the mayor of a municipality with an annual budget of approximately 1.5 million CZK.
"If the French start with the work this year, we probably wouldn't open the castle anymore," explained Rota. The monument, which was also made famous by the "Rukopis zelenohorský," is open on weekends from May to the end of September. Last year, it was visited by over 3,000 people. The significant year-on-year decrease was due to the fact that no cultural events were held there.
Klášter now has 171 inhabitants, 20 more than ten years ago. A bus line to Plzeň has been established here, where most of the citizens work, the mayor noted. The municipality does not have free plots for family homes, but under the castle, there are 50 private parcels, two of which are already built on.