Pilgrims could today view the post office being built on Sněžka

Pec pod Sněžkou (Trutnovsko) - Hundreds of participants at today's traditional St. Lawrence Pilgrimage to the highest mountain Sněžka did not miss the first opportunity to tour the interior of the new post office. The modern building will close again after today's opening and consecration on Saturday, and completing it will require several more weeks of work. The investor of the construction, Jaroslava Skrbková, told this to journalists.
    "The new post office will still be finished, and until its completion, the old post office will operate. I do not want to estimate the opening date of the new building," said Skrbková. The modern structure, designed by architects Martin Rajniš and Patrik Hoffman, is made of wooden parts and reinforced with steel ties, with glass panels covered by wooden shutters. After completion, tourists should find a viewing terrace, information about the Krkonoš, post office services, and refreshments in the new building.
    The new post office stands where the original Czech hut used to be. However, the dilapidated structure from 1868 was closed since 1990 and was demolished in 2004. The selection of the new post office's design was accompanied by heated discussions, and there were objections to the construction, for example, from the administrators of the Krkonošsko National Park. A special permit for construction in the most strictly protected zone of the park had to be issued by the Ministry of the Environment. The current building, whose preparation began about four years ago, is, according to the park's administrators, the result of a compromise. The post office at the summit of Sněžka will complement the Polish meteorological station from 1976, which has the shape of flying saucers, once completed. At the summit of Sněžka, the old post office, the chapel of St. Lawrence, the stone mound, and nearby the summit, the cable car station also still stand.
    According to architect Martin Rajniš, who worked on the post office project, the final design is accommodating to both people and nature. "I hope that from the opponents who closely examine the construction, they will become its supporters," Rajniš told journalists. He stated that it is still necessary to arrange the interior, activate the hydraulic closing of the shutters, and finish the electrical installations. "It is necessary to finish a number of hardly visible things, but that will take several weeks of work," Rajniš said.
    The traditional pilgrimage to Sněžka was also attended today by President Václav Klaus with three grandchildren. "The building is original; I think it is bold, and I have no objections to boldness. I think it is quite a nice idea to do it this way," Klaus said after touring the post office. Together with hundreds of pilgrims, he made a brisk ascent to Sněžka via the Giant's Valley.
    However, some of the visitors to Sněžka did not hide their disappointment with the appearance of the new post office. "I don't know why such a modern building had to be constructed and why it didn't resemble the original Czech hut, which people were used to," said one of the visitors to Sněžka to ČTK.
    Saint Lawrence is not only the patron saint of cooks, pastry chefs, brewers, or innkeepers, but also of the highest Czech mountains. The name of Saint Lawrence is also borne by the chapel that stands at the summit of Sněžka. Therefore, members of both the Polish and Czech mountain rescue services participate in the pilgrimage every year.