Cultural monument (Czech Republic)
The criteria for declaring an object a cultural monument, as well as the rules of their protection and management are defined in Act 20/1987 Coll., on State Heritage Preservation.
Under the current laws it is entrusted with a number of expert tasks related to the state heritage conservation.
The main mission of the monument inspectorate is to exercise central supervision over compliance with this Act 20/1987 and with regulations issued for its implementation.
Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic contains both the immovable and movable objects.
There are almost 40 thousand immovable objects like historical buildings, archaeological sites, industrial monuments, folk architecture.
The movable objects include works of art, valuable handicrafts, historical library collections and original furnishings of castles and chateaux and sacral buildings.
[citation needed] An urban monument zone is a part of a city or town that is historically significant.
Among the historical zones are examples of the Renaissance upper towns (Horní Blatná, Jiřetín pod Jedlovou), Baroque and Classicist towns (Nový Bor, Jablonec nad Nisou), spa towns (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Luhačovice) or urban areas connected with industrial production (Vítkovice and Přívoz in Ostrava) or rental apartments construction (Prague districts Karlín, Vinohrady, Vršovice, Žižkov, Nusle, Bubeneč, Smíchov and Dejvice).
The pool of the landscape monuments is very diverse – they can be architecturally composed landscapes with roads and alleys and related buildings (Novohradsko, Chudenicko, Lednice-Valtice area), or important pilgrimage sites (Římovsko, Libějovicko-Lomecko), areas with the remains of mining activities (Jáchymov, Krupka) or memorial lands, reminiscent of major battles (battlefield near Hradec Králové), near Slavkov or Chlumec).
[8] The owner of a cultural monument needs to care for its conservation, to keep it in good condition and to protect it at his/her own expense.
Since repairing a monument usually requires a specific approach like the use of traditional materials and technologies which may prove costly, the owner has an option to apply for various grants offered by some institutions in the Czech republic, namely by the Ministry of Culture, or for funding available through the European Structural Funds.
[11] The program provides contributions to the restoration of the most valuable pieces of the architectural heritage (for example, castles, chateaux, monasteries, historical gardens, churches).
This program provides contributions to the restoration of cultural monuments located in the most valuable parts of historic cities declared as conservation areas or zones.
Its main objective is to meet the Czech Republic's obligations arising from the adoption of the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage.
The purpose of the program is to support the upkeep of the Czech monuments registered on the World Heritage List.
It allows financial support of publicly beneficial projects submitted by associations, whose activities help to protect the immovable and movable heritage fund in the Czech Republic and who contribute to the popularization of its care.
