Tachov is striving for subsidies for the renovation of the monumental riding hall in Světce

Tachov - Tachov is seeking a European subsidy for the complete renovation and utilization of the Světce riding hall, which has been a national cultural monument since 2010. The cost is estimated at 80 million crowns. New exhibitions, facilities, a restaurant, and storage areas are planned. The nearly 155-year-old monumental riding hall seemed doomed to destruction in 1999, but is now a admired gem, said Tachov mayor Jiří Struček (ČSSD) to ČTK. It is the second largest in Central Europe after the Spanish riding school in Vienna.

"I believe that it will succeed. We have finalized the project and will apply for subsidies from the European IROP program (from the call designated for national cultural monuments and UNESCO sites). The call is set to be announced either later this year or in two phases at the beginning of next year," he stated. The city wants to utilize all the spaces of the monument. A museum of blacksmithing and herbs will be established, along with facilities for performers, a restaurant, a caretaker's apartment, and storage areas. The architect is Jan Soukup, who has been preparing the renovations of key monuments in the region and has worked on the restoration of the riding hall from the beginning.

The fourteen-year-long renovation has already cost 70 million crowns. The statics of the building have been resolved, and there is a new roof, windows, and sanitation facilities. According to a study, an additional 80 to 90 million crowns are needed.

The city, region, and Ministry of Culture provide around two million crowns each year for the building's reconstruction. Last year, Tachov repaired the plaster, historic paintings, and the basement. They also allocate funds for the operations and events organized by the cultural center. The monument hosts the Open Doors of the Riding Hall with concerts from spring to autumn, as well as exhibitions, night and regular tours, screenings in the cinema café, and even national championships for hunting dogs and model aircraft. Last year, nearly 6,000 people visited the riding hall, and filmmakers are also interested in it, using the surrounding ruins of the unfinished romantic castle.

In 1999, a decision was approved by one vote in the council to save the riding hall. At that time, it was just ruins and collapsed walls. The only thing holding the structure together was a unique roof and ceiling.

"The pseudo-Romanesque riding hall features a mixture of styles aimed at making it grand and representative, as desired by General Windischgrätz (Alfred, a Czech noble and Austrian field marshal)," said the guide and caretaker of the Tachov castle, Pavel Voltr. In the riding hall, built in a more modern style after the model of the 135-year-older Vienna riding school, there was originally a blacksmith's apartment or a horseshoeing area in the basement, and the nobility could directly drive their carriages or even the first automobiles into the riding hall at the beginning of the 20th century. The ground floor was for horses, and the upper floor was for the nobility and visitors.