t was the year 2014, 10 years passed from one of the most spectacular discoveries of the past century in Prague. There was much more to be discovered concerning the Rotundabut could not be for the lack of financial resources, the archeological research and the building reconstruction could not be finished at that moment. The situation changed with the new opportunity in the EEA Grants from Iceland, Lichtenstein, and Norway competition. The newly appointed Vice-Dean for Public Relations Dr. Martin Vlach became the leader of a team called “Preservation Project for St. Wenceslas Rotunda at Lesser Town Square” that had to wait for almost a year to hear the final decision. 209 project proposals in total entered the competition out of which only 26 were successful. Among them was the Preservation Project for Rotunda. The project symbolically started on the New Year’s Day 2015.
The sum of almost 10 million CZK was by 80% supplied by the EEA Grants. The remaining 20% were committed to be provided by the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University which of course brought a high risk. In the course of the Project’s implementation, an online application for donations called “Our Rotunda” was launched and, with the help of various media, it eventually attracted over 800 donors. The full sum was collected approximately 6 months before the end of the project.
At the end of June 2016 after almost 18 months the archeologists completed their research and the reconstruction was finished so that the area of the Rotunda could be finally issued the completion certificate. But the work on the Project was not finished yet. During the summer holiday the holographic projection was installed, the information panels were designed, a computer with an interactive presentation was installed, and glass cases with the findings were made.