Vila Benešových will be accessible every weekend and Friday during the season

Prague - The villa of Hana and Edvard Beneš in Sezimovo Ústí will be regularly accessible to the public from April 6th. Visitors will be able to tour the house including the adjacent garden by prior registration from Friday to Sunday, and the visiting season will last until October. This was announced today at a joint press conference by Michal Lukeš, the general director of the National Museum, and Radek Augustin, the head of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. In recent years, the villa had only been open on the last weekends of the month, attracting hundreds of visitors.

"The National Museum will regularly ensure guided tours both professionally and technically three times a week,” said Lukeš. "We are starting now on Friday after Easter; we have prepared two guided tours - one for adult visitors and one for school groups and children," he added. Admission will be free, but registration through the reservation system is necessary so that people can arrive on time and organizers can keep track of the number of visitors.

Lukeš added that the opening coincides symbolically with the 70th anniversary of the death of the second Czechoslovak president and close collaborator of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. "This year, we are commemorating not only the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic but also the sad anniversary of President Beneš's death in September of this year, symbolizing the long-lasting end of democracy in our country," said Lukeš.

The head of the government office, Augustin, reminded that the villa was a favorite place for Beneš. He mainly went there to rest, but he also received significant visitors there. Hana Benešová bequeathed the house and land to the Tábor Museum in 1973 to serve as a memorial to her husband. During socialism, the building was converted into a government recreational residence. Since 2000, the house has been a cultural monument. The villa is managed by the Office of the Government.

The villa of Hana and Edvard Beneš was built from 1930 to 1931 based on the design by architect Petr Kropáček. The Beneš couple wished for the house to resemble rural buildings in southern France; they wanted not only smooth walls and low roofs but also bright rooms, according to the website of the Office of the Government. The garden's appearance was based on the principles of the English landscape park, and plants were planted not only by the gardener. "Beneš was a passionate gardener, which is why the garden, which he kept purchasing, is unique," noted Augustin.