Žatec and the Žatec hop landscape have become part of the UNESCO world heritage. For the Czech Republic, it is the seventeenth entry on the World Natural and Cultural Heritage List. At the same time, it is the first hop growing region in the world to receive this status. The inscription was decided by the Intergovernmental World Heritage Committee at its 45th session in Riyadh.
“I am very happy that this nomination is included in the world heritage list, because the cultivation of hops, our green gold, is closely linked to Czech culture,” said Minister of Culture Martin Baxa (ODS).
He believes that the new world heritage site will not only confirm its outstanding values, but also provide impetus for further development, better protection and strengthening cooperation in the fields of preservation, tourism and promotion.
The hop landscape nomination is a continuation of the original concept called Žatec – hop city, which the World Heritage Committee recommended in 2018 to be revised to include still production landscapes.
Žatec and the Žatec hop landscape are evidence of a strong cultural tradition of growing and processing hops that has lived on for centuries. The registered monument consists of two parts, which together depict the cycle of cultivation, processing and trade of the world’s most famous hop variety – Žatec semi-early red hop.
The first part consists of a landscape with a hop farm and the villages of Trnovany and Stekník, including the castle of the same name. The second part represents the historical center of Žatec together with its industrial area from the 19th century, which has the largest concentration of buildings related to hop processing and trade. The two parts are connected by the Ohří river.
This site and its hop building heritage bear witness to a tradition of more than 700 years that continues to this day despite major demographic changes in various historical periods. The landscape contains a number of elements ranging from traditional hop houses to buildings used for drying, packaging, certifying and storing hops to parts of historic transportation networks such as roads, railways, the Ohře River and other waterways.
Registration will help the entire region, the governor said
Adding Žatec and the Žatec hop landscape to the UNESCO World Heritage List will have a positive impact on the entire Ústí Region, believes governor Jan Schiller (ANO). According to him, this will help so that the area is no longer considered dirty and ugly, he said. The World Heritage Committee’s decision was also welcomed by Žatec Mayor Radim Laibl (ANO) and representatives of hop growers.
“This is a great prestige for us. It will definitely have a positive impact on the entire region. UNESCO will help us to no longer be considered a dirty and ugly region, we are trying to change this region here,” said Schiller and thanked everyone who has been working on registration for years. At the same time, he considers being on the UNESCO list a big commitment. “Žatec must gain experience in cities that have been members of UNESCO for longer. “If needed, we are ready to help,” added the governor.
According to the Mayor of Žatec, the inscription on the UNESCO list means a lot for Žatec and Zálužice, on whose territory there is a hop landscape, in addition to the prestigious brand, it also means the potential for further development and a strong tourist position in the region. Ústí Region and the Czech Republic. Thanks to his candidacy, Žatec has managed to obtain subsidies for the restoration of monuments in the city from European programs, for example the town hall or the ongoing restoration of the monastery. “In the coming years, we want to focus primarily on tourism infrastructure and parking solutions in both components,” said Laibl in a press release.
Chairman of the Union of Hop Growers of the Czech Republic, Luboš Hejda, stated that the World Heritage Committee, with its decision to inscribe Žatec and the hop landscape, “appreciates the preserved monuments related to the cultivation and processing of Žatec semi-early red hops, a high-quality aromatic hop variety grown in the Republic Czech”. The majority of hop crops in the Czech Republic are grown in the Žatec region, on 3,744 hectares, which is 77 percent of the total area.
Žatec has been seeking inclusion on the prestigious list since 2007, when it was included on the indicative list, which contains potential applicants for inclusion on the World Heritage List.
The first version of the nomination, entitled Žatec – city of hops, focused solely on the urban and technical heritage of Žatec. In 2018, the World Heritage Committee called the project exciting and asked the Czech Republic to rework and expand the story of hop cultivation in the surrounding countryside. In cooperation with the municipality, representatives of hop farmers, under the assistance of experts from the National Monuments Office (NPÚ) and Czech and foreign experts, the landscape of hop farms in the Stekník area together with the local country castle was selected.
“We are pleased that the Stekník State Castle can be included in this project, whose restoration has been increasingly paid attention to by the National Monuments Institute in recent years,” said NPÚ director Naďa Goryczková, who believes that world heritage status will help increase interest in the castle. According to him, in the future his new exhibition will also show “the uniqueness of the hop landscape connected to villages with farms and places of further processing, storage and trade of hops”.
“Certified bacon geek. Evil social media fanatic. Music practitioner. Communicator.”