The rare Romanesque reliquary of St. Maur made of gilded silver and gilded copper and decorated with almost 200 precious stones was transported to Prague Castle, the presidential seat, to be displayed to public there as of Wednesday, under strict security measures today.

The reliquary was sent to Prague from the chateau in Becov, west Bohemia, in a special vehicle protected by policemen from the rapid reaction unit (URNA).
The unique artifact will be installed in the late Gothic Vladislav Hall in the Old Royal Place at Prague Castle.
The exhibition will be officially opened tonight with President Vaclav Klaus and his wife attending, and it will run through February 27, 2011.
Six men in black hoods carried the reliquary hidden in a metal casket to the Vladislav Hall.
National Heritage Institute (NPU) director Nada Goryczkova, along with heritage protectors, then unlocked the locks on the casket and opened it. Experts checked whether the artifact was not damaged during the transport.
The reliquary will be displayed in a large air-conditioned glass case near the room where copies of the Czech coronation jewels are presented. A model of the Becov chateau will stand on the opposite side of the hall.
The reliquary of St. Maur was made on the order of the Benedictine monastery in Florennes, Belgium, for the relics of St. Maur, St. Timothy and St. John Baptist in the first quarter of the 13th century.
It later got into the ownership of Alfred de Beaufort-Spontin. The Beauforts collaborated with the Nazis and had to leave Becov and Czechoslovakia after World War Two. Before they left, they hid the reliquary under the floor of the castle chapel.
It was uncovered after a strenuous search by a team of detectives in 1985.
The restoration of the unique artifact, which cost over ten million crowns, started in 1993 and was completed in 2002 when the reliquary returned to Becov.
Similar security measures as those taken over the reliquary accompanied the transport of the renowned prehistorical statue of "Venus of Vestonice" from Moravia to Prague´s National Museum in 2006 and back after the exhibition ended in 2007. URNA members also guarded the transport.
The reliquary returned to Prague Castle after ten years. It was displayed there dismantled into parts for two months in 2000 when the restoration was still underway.