Prague, July 16 (CTK) – The Legacy of Charlemagne is the title of an exhibition that was opened at Prague Castle yesterday, after being shown in Ename, Belgium, and Ravenna, Italy, and that presents about 300 exhibits linked to the great medieval ruler, its curator Jana Marikova Kubkova said.
The exhibition has been prepared based on the Cradles of European Culture international project.
Apart from exhibits from the partner countries, which is Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Slovenia, it will for the first time present significant artifacts from Czech collections, including those uncovered at a unique burial site in Prague Castle’s Lumbe Garden.
“The exhibition invites the visitors to seek what we [particular nations] have in common in Europe and also highlights the differences between us, and the Charlemagne era’s aspects that may inspire us. It makes us think about the variety of possible approaches of history,” Marikova Kubkova, from the Czech Archaeological Institute, said.
After Charlemagne (748?-814) completed the unification of vast European territories, the period known as Carolingian and Ottonian renaissance followed, typical of an economic, artistic and intellectual rise.
The first part of the exhibition acquaints the visitors with the history of the European unification processes and the basic data on the European Union as the latest and peaceful attempt to unify Europe to make it a single political, economic and cultural unit.
The other parts present the personality of Charlemagne and guide the visitors around five selected regions of the European early Middle Ages.
Finally, the visitors are offered a virtual Path of cultural heritage that acquaints them with ten significant localities that were important in Charlemagne’s era and that are partners of the exhibition project now.
The exhibition runs in Prague Castle’s Old Royal Palace through October 14. Afterwards, its part will be installed in Marseilles, before it definitively ends, Marikova Kubkova said.
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