Heritage conservationists are planning the restoration of the Belvedere chateau in Valtice this year

source: Koutne1, Wikimedia Commons

Valtice - This year, conservationists plan to restore the Belvedere chateau in Valtice in the Břeclav region. The reconstruction will cost 15 million crowns. It will feature an exhibition of rare Chinese silk wallpapers from the estate of French Queen Marie Antoinette, Valtice castle keeper Richard Svoboda said today to ČTK.

Marie Antoinette was the daughter of the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. At the age of fourteen, she was sent to the French royal court to unite her life with that of the future king Louis XVI. Her life ended during the French Revolution in 1793 under the guillotine.

The Chinese silk wallpapers from her estate were brought by John I of Liechtenstein. They were originally in the castle in Lednice and are now being gradually restored. Three have already been restored for one million crowns, and three more remain to be restored.

They will be displayed in the fall at the hunting lodge Belvedere. "People will see it for the first time since World War II," Svoboda stated. The Empire-style building, designed by architect Josef Hardmuth in 1802, stands on the northern edge of Valtice. Originally, it was a pheasantry.

Belvedere is among the monument protected structures of the Lednice-Valtice area, which has been listed as a UNESCO World Natural and Cultural Heritage site since 1997.