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The Czech Ministry of Culture has announced two days of free admission to state-owned heritage sites. According to the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ), the initiative will cover nearly all of the roughly one hundred sites under state administration.
The NPÚ reports that 59% of tour slots are already booked, with the most popular destinations — the castles and chateaux of Lednice, Hluboká nad Vltavou, Český Krumlov, Karlštejn and Trosky — completely sold out. The institute's website lists other sites where slots are still available.
The Ministry has pledged to compensate the NPÚ for lost ticket revenue. For context, ticket sales bring in more than 500 million crowns out of the institute's total budget of nearly 2 billion crowns.
Notably, just a week before the first free Sunday, Czech castles and chateaux will host the traditional "Castle Night" (Hradozámecká noc), scheduled for Saturday, August 22. Dozens of castles, fortresses and other heritage sites across the country will stay open after dark that evening, offering visitors nighttime tours featuring music, theatrical performances and unusual tales.
Earlier, in April, the Ministry of Culture had already introduced free-entry days for three state museums and galleries — the National Gallery in Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, and the Museum of Art in Olomouc — followed shortly after by five more museums, including the National Museum and the National Technical Museum in Prague. The galleries offered free admission on the first Sunday of each month, while the museums did so on the second Sunday; however, once the school year ended, this popular practice was put on hold.
Ministry spokesperson Barbora Šťastná explained that this had been a pilot phase, the results of which are now being analyzed. Starting in September, the ministry plans to introduce a single free-entry day once a month across all museums and galleries under its purview.
"The NPÚ's priority right now is to make sure both free-entry days go as smoothly as possible for visitors," said institute spokesperson Blanka Černá.
Read also: Prague Castle from the inside: 9 spots within the fortress you can't miss
Source: novinky.cz
