Page 155 - UNESCO_Zatec_2021_A4

also shaped the overall appearance of the town. Other "oeil-de-boeuf" (ox eye) dormers, hop drying kilns in rural
grand buildings, such as the theatre, bank and historic areas, big warehouses and sulphurisation chambers with
hotels, reflect the international scope of the hop trade tall chimneys in the town.
and, consequently, the prosperity generated. In the
centre of the town there is a big Jewish synagogue built The intangible aspects of the nominated landscape
in the 1870s which has survived to date and is testimony include the favourable natural conditions for hop
to the large Jewish community living in Žatec in the past. growing, several centuries long uninterrupted cultivation
Several of its members were successful hop traders who of hops, a vast amount of specific knowledge and skills
commissioned the construction of many important hop- crowned with the activities of internationally recognized
related buildings in Žatec. The success of the hop trading professional institutions, seasonal celebrations of
business impacted the urban architecture and the town milestones in the growing season and a multitude of
fabric in that period and transformed Žatec into a true interactions between man and the environment.
hop trading hub in the centre of Europe.
The uniqueness of the nominated property is particularly
Both component parts of the series – rural and urban– well communicated through the social, economic and
jointly provide strong evidence of the entire hop cycle technical systems:
from hop growing to its processing and international
trade and testify to the set of specific knowledge and The impact of hop growing, harvesting and processing
skills of many generations of hop growers and traders, on the nominated landscape which is clearly identifiable
who are credited with building the leading position of and visible in both rural and urban landscapes: in
Saaz hops in this region to date. Hops were and still are component part 01 hop fields and rural hop processing
grown in many European countries but the nominated buildings connected by historical roads as well as in the
property with the internationally recognized Saaz variety component part 02 (lay-out of the hop processing sites at
of hop is one of the oldest. The preserved rural and urban Prague Suburb and elsewhere, typical skyline of chimneys
heritage of the nominated property is associated with the rising above the hop drying kilns and sulphurisation
tradition of hop growing, processing and trade, and is an chambers including the remains documenting the old
exceptional testimony of the impact of the specialised method of hop drying in the historical roof spaces);
rural landscape and its administrative urban centre.
Typology, uniqueness and diversity of rural and urban
Both component parts are geographically close to buildings designed for hop processing which are in 155
each other and naturally linked by the river Ohře and harmony with the older rural and urban environment;
a network of local historic roads which for centuries has
provided a link between the countryside (where hops Highly attractive visual links between the landscape
are grown, harvested, dried and packed into bales) and with unmistakable character of hop fields changing
the town of Žatec (where the hops are processed, stored throughout the year and the well preserved rural
and traded). Later this road network was supplemented settlements with a dominant of chateau the former
by the railway which sped up the hop transport as well prosperity of which was directly associated with the local
as the transport of thousands of seasonal workers hop fields;
needed in the hop fields. The buffer zone shared by both
component parts includes this link and will protect it Remarkable visual qualities and preserved visual
and preserve it for the future. The buffer zone contains integrity of the urban landscape of Žatec determined
additional hop fields and many other contextual by a unique historical development of the site
features associated with the living and constantly with a concentration of rare industrial buildings
evolving hop growing tradition. It is obvious that these testifying to an unprecedented scale, intensity and
two component parts are practically inseparable as one impact of the industrial transformation of the entire
would not be functional without the other. area, contributing to its unique atmosphere and
creating its unique character which cannot be found
The values of the Saaz hop landscape are conveyed by anywhere else;
both tangible and intangible attributes. The tangible
characteristics of the landscape are defined by its relief, The impact of the landscape on the settlements
the river connecting both component parts, hop fields and the town and the interactions between them
with their dynamic visual changes during each year, the documenting the integrity of the entire process
panorama of the villages and the town of Žatec, and consisting of the hop growing, processing and trading;
many typologically specific buildings for hop processing.
Rural and urban elements make the picture of the hop A high level of authenticity of a significant number
landscape complete: hop plants in fields and built of buildings without any secondary modifications or
heritage with preserved elements associated with hop later undesirable interventions. The building stock in
drying technology such as typical timber structures, the villages of Stekník and Trnovany as well as in the
roof spaces/lofts where hops used to be dried, typical historic parts of Žatec is in a satisfactory condition