2024-03-26 13:39:22
60 years ago, on March 26, 1964, the Czechoslovak government decided on the fate of the medieval city of Most. She had it scrapped for coal mining. Only the church survived, which they moved to the new Most. They also diverted the river Bílina. The city, which today could be compared with Prague, Krumlov or Kutná Hora in terms of historical monuments, was gradually destroyed by explosives for twenty years.
The first historical references to the settlement around Most are from the 10th century, when a trail led across the swampy landscape over wooden bridges. This is also where the name of the city comes from. In the 18th century, huge reserves of coal were discovered in the vicinity of Most, and in the 19th century, a railway was brought to the town, a sugar factory, a porcelain factory, a steel factory, a brewery, and a museum were built.
After the Second World War, most of the original, German-speaking inhabitants were displaced, at the beginning of the communist era in 1948, 45 thousand people lived here. The city had a center with many Gothic buildings.
In 1965, the demolition of the old Bridge began. “If we were to compare it to something in today’s conditions, then perhaps with Kutná Hora. At the time when the old Most was demolished, there were dozens of well-preserved Gothic houses. It was an extremely valuable and rich city,” he said in an earlier interview for Seznam.zprávy Ondřej Beneš, pedagogue of CTU and architect of the city of Děčín.
According to other experts, the city could easily compete with Prague or Český Krumlov in terms of historical monuments.
The oldest parts were destroyed during the first ten years, the demolition took twenty years.
The photos of Panorama of Old Mostek are from the exhibition in the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, which took place in 2023. It is a selection of the most interesting historical photos that the authors of the project have digitized.