Castle and cathedral placed under administration over debt

A court has put Prague Castle and the adjacent St Vitus’ Cathedral under administration at the request of an Italian company which says the castle’s operators owe it around one million crowns (the equivalent of 62 thousand US dollars). The Castle Administration is appealing the ruling. The head of the president’s office Jiří Weigl told Czech Radio on Friday there was no threat of a forced sale of Castle property, saying the necessary funds were available to cover the debt but the Castle Administration is waiting to see if the Supreme Court upheld the latest ruling. The dispute goes back to 2001, when the firm GEMA Art took part in an exhibition on Renaissance and Baroque artists.