Prague Is a World-Class City Thanks to UNESCO

The conference was held from 6 to 7 December in the New Building of the National Museum. The symposium, attended by 300 experts, was based on the idea that there is no future without history.

"The quarter-century anniversary of the World Heritage List of Prague's Center is a great opportunity to evaluate what Prague has achieved in the last decades, also thanks to UNESCO," said Deputy Mayor Peter Kolínská, while reminding that the city has some debts in this regard – for example from the time of the previous regime that built a multi-lane highway on the very edge of the Prague’s Landmark Preservation.

"I would like to see that Prague being on this important list, was not taken as given. It is difficult to get on the List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage by UNESCO, but it is also easy to drop out of it, as many cases in the world suggest. On the other hand, we are now faced with a great challenge. In the last quarter of the century during which the Historical Center of Prague is listed, tourism has increased significantly and that has both, positive and negative, consequences. This was also discussed at the conference”, said the Prague Culture Councilor, Jan Wolf.

With an area of 863 hectares, the Historical Center of Prague is one of the largest urban heritage sites in the world. UNESCO landmarks are one of the great attractions for tourists; over 7 million visitors visited the Czech capital last year.