<Request for the inscription of Plečnik's Church on UNESCO will probably be submitted next year>

Prague - The reconstruction of the Vinohrady Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, one of the most remarkable sacred monuments in Prague, is expected to be completed within three years. Next year, the Czech Republic could submit an application to nominate the monument to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Dita Limová, the director of the UNESCO department at the Ministry of Culture, said this to ČTK. The nomination will include buildings that were constructed by the church's architect, Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik (1872–1957), in his homeland. January 7 marks the 60th anniversary of Plečnik's death, whose most significant legacy in the Czech Republic is found at Prague Castle.

After the church was declared a national cultural monument seven years ago, the reconstruction is the next step in the effort to list it on the UNESCO list (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). The reconstruction of the church, which began last summer, involves repairing the towers, which are leaking, cracks in the floor, and the largest clock in the Czech Republic will also be repaired. The six-million reconstruction is primarily financed by the local parish, but the state and the Prague 3 district have also contributed.

Since 1992, the historic core of Prague has been included on the prestigious UNESCO list. On the indicative list of monuments that each country intends to submit for inscription, the Czech Republic has nearly twenty entries, including an expansion of the center to include additional monuments, and the Vinohrady church was also considered.

However, according to Limová, this intention is currently not being developed, and experts are preparing only a joint nomination with Slovenia under the name Timeless Humanist Architecture of Jože Plečnik in Ljubljana and Prague. Slovenia is the main coordinator of the preparations; the last meeting of the preparatory group, according to Limová, took place in the fall of last year.

The nomination process is very lengthy, and discussions about the inscription of monuments can take many years. If the nomination is transnational, as in the case of Plečnik's buildings, the process is even more complicated. The Czech Republic has several international nominations prepared. Recently, the UNESCO committee has often prioritized these over purely national candidacies.

The Czech Republic has 12 inscriptions on the list, which is considered a great success given its size. In terms of the number of inscriptions, we rank among the top 30 countries in the world, Limová stated. However, according to her, the nomination with Plečnik's buildings will certainly not be submitted this year, possibly next year.

Inclusion on the UNESCO list is a prestigious matter for monument owners. Being listed almost automatically means an increase in interest from tourists worldwide. In the Czech Republic, financial support can also be requested for both registered monuments and those that have only been nominated. In 2008, the Ministry of Culture added another grant program specifically for the owners of these monuments to several of its existing programs in the field of monuments.

In addition to immovable monuments, the Czech Republic also has items of intangible heritage on the UNESCO list. These include the Slovácko verbuňk dance, the carnival processions and masks in Hlinecko, and the King's rides in the southeast of the Czech Republic; along with other countries, the Czech Republic has falconry on the list. In December, Czech and Slovak puppetry was added to the list. In the Memory of the World Register, which is dedicated to protecting the most precious documents and making them accessible, the Czech Republic has five entries.