Due to high demand, the castle has extended the exhibition of the crown jewels until Tuesday
By agreement with the preservationists, the jewels can be seen in the temple even after Sunday mass from 14:30 to 21:00 and on Mondays and Tuesdays from 08:00 to 18:00. The head of the presidential office, Vratislav Mynář, told journalists today. According to the spokesman of the Office of the President of the Republic Vít Novák, 4,651 visitors came to see the jewels today.
Since its opening on Tuesday and Wednesday, the exhibition has been viewed by an average of 4,300 people per day. Until Saturday, it is open from 09:00 to 17:00, today before 09:00 a queue of interested people stretched from the Castle to Klárov. Every day since the beginning of the opening of the exhibition, the custodians from the presidential office had to close the entrance to the queue a few hours earlier, so that all people would have time to view the jewels during the opening hours.
“Thanks to a consultant with heritage conservation experts, Mr. President decided that the exhibition of the crown jewels will be extended,” said Mynář. The Metropolitan Chapter at St. Vitus will also extend the display of the skull and helmet of the national world in the St. Wenceslas Chapel. The seven holders of the keys to the Czech crown jewel document to the Crown Chamber on the afternoon of Wednesday, January 25.
The decision to display the jewels was made by the serving President Miloš Zeman on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Czech Republic. Originally, the exhibition was supposed to last five days, on Sunday the jewels were to be part of the mass, on Monday they were expected to be deposited back in the Crown Chamber. Even with its extension to eight days, the current exhibition of jewels, together with the one last in January 2018, is the shortest in the history of the independent Czech Republic. The crown, scepter and apple of St. Wenceslas were on display for the longest time in May 2016, when the exhibition lasted 15 days.
“Extending the exhibition can in no way harm the crown jewels, as they are part of air conditioning units in all our showcases,” Petr Kroupa, director of the Department of Monument Preservation of the Prague Castle, told ČTK today.
The exhibition of the crown jewels is traditionally accompanied by a high level of interest from visitors. On Tuesday, he also came to see the presidential candidate Andrej Babiš (ANO), after he changed his decision in this regard again. At the same time, he stated that, as president, he would consider displaying the crown jewels always on holidays. But when he saw the queue, he remarked that “it would probably need some sort of permanent exhibition”.
However, much less rare monuments and artefacts than the Czech crown jewels do not receive permanent exposure. The reason is, in addition to safety, their great symbolic importance.
The exhibition is accompanied by extraordinary security measures. Two members of the castle guard are standing right next to the display case with the jewels, others are guarding the whole temple together with soldiers and policemen. As in the past, entry to the exhibition is free and priority is given to visitors in wheelchairs with a ZTP or ZTP/P card. The tour route leads through the southern gardens from Opyš via the Bull Stairs to the third courtyard to the main entrance to the cathedral.
The crown chamber in the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle, where the Czech crown jewels are kept, was opened on Monday by seven key holders.
The Czech crown jewels served as badges of the rule and power of the Czech kings. The St. Wenceslas crown was made in 1346 by Charles IV. for his coronation as Czech king the following year.