Kačerov is the first village conservation area in the Orlické Mountains

Hradec Králové - The best-preserved part of the settlement of Kačerov in the Rychnov region has been declared the first village monument zone in the Orlické Mountains by the Ministry of Culture. The village has preserved a complex of predominantly timbered folk architecture typical of the Orlické Mountains. Eva Macková from the specialized workplace of the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) in Josefov informed ČTK about this today. The initiative for the declaration of the locality as a heritage zone was submitted by the association Údolí Kačerov.

According to heritage experts, the locality mainly features single-story cottages of the so-called Eastern Sudeten type from the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, with barn-like layouts, timbered living rooms, and brick rear sections. "Details of the windows in the gable, with a typical roof and additional elements characterizing the timber architecture of the Orlické Mountains, have been rarely preserved," said Macková.

In Kačerov, several rural houses have been preserved, which, together with the Church of St. Catherine, sculptural works with religious themes, and other small technical structures, form a whole. "The declaration of the heritage zone follows the existing sensitive approach of the owners to the historical environment of Kačerov. It is significant primarily as a measure for preserving the cultural values of properties that are not cultural monuments and creating optimal conditions for maintaining the environment of cultural monuments," said Jiří Balský, director of the Josefov NPÚ office.

The village is first documented in 1577 as part of the Rychnov estate. In the settlement of Horní Kačerov, there was a modern glassworks that was transferred there in 1567 from Kunčina Ves and operated until the middle of the 17th century. Before the Thirty Years' War, Kačerov was a large village with a substantial number of cottages and small houses, and even then, Kačerov existed roughly in its final plot layout.