It takes half a day to enter.

Could a similar scenario play out in Košice, where the unique European treasure of Košice, the Košice Gold Treasure, is located? The collection is of incalculable value, containing 3,000 coins, or 11 kilos of gold.

Dominik Béreš, director of the East Slovak Museum, says that he was surprised by the information about the French theft.

"They did it like clockwork. We have to overcome several factors of protection here, for example, when the curator needs to get into the collection or one of the coins is tilted. It takes half a day before we can actually open something."

The museum is visited by over one hundred thousand visitors a year. In addition to numerous cameras, it is guarded by a complex of security systems.

From a standard alarm, motion sensors, in-house security service, to a special safe that was built into the building like an entire room. Standing in the coin display means standing in the middle of an armored safe.

They intervene several times a year

"It was built in 1969 and cost about a million crowns at the time. So it is already clear how the then officials and comrades who decided to install the safe in the historic building did not skimp on security," explains numismatist and curator of the Košice Golden Treasure Patrik Fečo.

At that time, a luxury house could be built for 100,000 crowns."They already realized then that there was something here that was very interesting on a global scale."

The entire gold base exhibition is located underground in the museum; the average visitor will not notice several security features on the way to it.

The museum management does not want to specify them all as a precaution. The exhibition is entered through double armored doors that open in the morning and close in the afternoon under a special regime.

In addition, the coins are protected by additional “bulletproof” doors and a barred door. The elevator is turned off outside opening hours and special window protection is turned on.

“Anyone who tried to break the glass and enter the building would automatically trigger a double alarm,” says Director Béreš. In addition to the private security service, a police motorized unit would be on standby within minutes.

Such a trip takes place several times a year, and these are false alarms."On the other hand, it's good, because it also verifies our ability to act."

Tram alarm

Last year, there was a significant investment in the museum's security, and the integrated security features were also refined."In the past, when the tram passed through Peace Marathon Square, the glass would shake from the vibrations, causing the alarm to go off," says the director.

"If we were to compare the Louvre and the theft in four minutes, it's not possible here. Here, he wouldn't even get through the door with a"flexka". They are code-controlled, have electronic and mechanical security, and any movement with them would indicate an alarm."

In a Paris museum, two masked thieves broke into jewelry display cases during the robbery. The gold treasure is also in glass display cases, the glass is hardened, and according to Béreš, it cannot be broken even with a hammer.

"The glass panes are opened both for safety reasons and because of the difficult handling, very rarely. They are extremely heavy, it takes several guys to even be able to pull out one pane. I can't say it in detail, but it is a multi-factorial protection. When we wanted to re-photograph some parts of the collection for a forthcoming publication and wanted to remove them from the display cases, we had to report it and notify the relevant departments," says Fečo.

Tourist magnet

The Košice gold treasure is one of the largest gold treasures in the world. It is currently of incalculable value. The value of 11 kilos of gold is only minimal compared to the historical value of the coins.