The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is Thun-Hohenstein Palace in Malá Strana, Prague. The members of the 200-seat house serve for four-year terms and are elected using the party-list proportional representation system.
The excursion began with a screening of a short film about the evolution of parliamentarism in the Czech Republic and the activities of the Chamber of Deputies in the information center. This was followed by a tour of the important exposition area, which included a visit to the foyer, a gallery of guests in the main meeting room and adjacent areas. The Chamber of Deputies is a living institution, so it is necessary to adjust the course of the inspection to its operation. For the same reason, it is also not possible to make excursions while the Plenary Meeting is taking place. However, we were lucky enough to be able to enter the main meeting room, stand behind the lectern and naturally take some photos while at it.
The tour was free of charge and accompanied by an expert commentary on the functions and activities of the Chamber of Deputies, on the history of Czech parliamentarism and on the architecture and history of parliamentary buildings. The total duration was approximately 75 minutes. If I had to speak for myself I would say that the excursion was remarkable. But quite frankly it did not seem like it in the beginning. We were greeted by the 20-minute screening which just put some of us to sleep. But as the tour continued things got much better. We progressed through the building, learned some interesting facts along the way and the cherry on the cake was most definitely the main meeting room. While most classmates behaved properly and kept on listening to the commentary a few people and I scattered around the room to look for the seats of our favourite deputies. And I found all of mine.
Dominik Polák, 3. A
