The reconstruction of the Hus monument has been completed in Old Town Square

Prague - On the occasion of the approaching 600th anniversary of the martyrdom of Jan Hus and simultaneously the centenary of its completion, the reconstruction of the Hus monument in the Old Town Square has been completed. Today, representatives of Prague, Tábor, and Husinec placed commemorative plaques, documents, and samples of daily newspapers inside the monumental Šaloun sculpture for those who will enter the monument in the future. The two-year repairs of the monument cost over eight million crowns, said curator of the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague, Marie Foltýnová.
    The memorial capsule was sealed with tin and placed at the cornerstone in the first level of the underground corridors. Restorers then definitively closed the entrance to the underground and covered it with soil. Several dozen people, including many curious tourists, attended the ceremonial completion of the repairs in the center of Prague today. They were attracted to the monument by the music of the Prague Philharmonic, which accompanied the celebration. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka referred to Hus as an honest and brave man in his speech. "He influenced the character and future of the Czech nation," Sobotka stated.
    Plans for the repair of the monument began to take shape in 2007, followed by exploratory work, and the actual reconstruction started in 2013, according to Foltýnová. The monument needed repair because the screws between the individual parts of the castings were corroding, were at the end of their lifespan, and it risked that they would start to separate.
    Most of the 8000 iron screws were replaced with stainless steel. The entire monument was also cleaned of dirt by the restorers. "Visible signs of age were left here so that the monument corresponds to the time of its creation," Foltýnová specified. Thus, the surface of the bronze sculpture now retains a so-called patina, which the restorers preserved with bee wax. The sculpture has darkened compared to earlier times. "This preservation will gradually diminish," Foltýnová added. In the future, the monument will once again take on a light green color.
    The Jan Hus monument by Ladislav Šaloun is probably the largest and most famous monument to the well-known church reformer. More than a quarter of a century passed from the initial impulse to erect the Jan Hus monument in Prague in 1889 to its eventual realization.
    The effort was accompanied by political disputes, and a location was sought for a long time, which led to a second competition for its design. It was only from this that Šaloun's design for the Old Town Square emerged. The funds for the monument were raised through a public collection. The cornerstone for the monument was laid in July 1903; the monument was unveiled on July 6, 1915, for the 500th anniversary of Hus's martyrdom.