Description
The Church of St. James in Brno is a national cultural heritage and one of the most significant late Gothic art-historical buildings in Morava. The aim of the project is to renovate the entire interior of the church, restoration of movable components and preservation of the church as a place of extraordinary cultural and spiritual significance. The primary goal of the works after making them accessible from e.g. scaffolding, will be to perform detailed surveys which will closely specific the technological procedures and significantly affect the final appearance of the respective components (e.g. scope of secondary over-painting). The actual course of renovation will also serve educational and research purposes (participation of students). The project also has a significant social aspect – accessing for handicapped as part of collaboration with the Norwegian partner KA and other partners in the Czech Republic. Throughout the duration of the project all components of the interior will be accessible. Besides the actual renovation and restoration of the interior the project also includes a museum exhibit in the tower and trusses.
Summary of project results
The Church of St. James in Brno, that is a national cultural heritage and one of the most significant late Gothic art-historical buildings in Morava, was in serious technical conditions (unsatisfactory structural stability, wiring) and since the 2007 technical inspection had faced a risk of being closed down. Besides, church’s movables required restoration and preservation as well. Therefore a complex renovation and rehabilitation of this cultural heritage site was needed which became the expected objective and outcome of the project. After the detailed surveys closely specifying the technological procedures were carried out, the church interior was thoroughly restored (structural stability was improved, roof trussing was repaired and, new wiring was installed and some minor additional reconstruction works took place) and along with the reconstruction works the restoration of movable components and stone and stuccoed fragment were carried out by relevant experts. The expected objective and outcome were achieved. Furthermore, the reconstruction and restoration works were supplemented with creating a new permanent exhibition made within the reconstructed premises of the church tower. Main outputs delivered: - newly installed wiring - reconstructed and accessible roof trussing - reconstructed tower with new multimedia permanent exhibition - decorated Interior of the church - 25 traceries incl. moulding reconstructed - choir-loft floor reconditioned - 16 roof bolting (key stones) restored - 26 culture heritage movables and fragments renovated - new CCTV and fire alarms. The main beneficiaries of the project have been churchgoers, local visitors and tourists of all age groups who can enjoy renovated and restored premises of the church opened to the public incl. new multimedia permanent exhibition. Besides, in the course of renovation the students of archaeology and other related arts were allowed to take part and thus the complex process of church restoration served educational and research purposes. Moreover, the project has had significant social aspect as possibilities of reducing barriers for disabled accessing the church were discussed as a part of collaboration with the Norwegian partner - Association for Employers in the Church of Norway, Dept. for Church Buildings and Heritage(KA) - and other partners in the Czech Republic.
Summary of bilateral results
The project was implemented in partnership with two Czech institutions (both were project promoters within the Programme CZ06) and one Norwegian partner. The Norwegian partner was The Association of Church Employers (KA). The partnership was created through the mediation of Riksantikvaren. The KA is Norwegian non-governmental, non-profit organization that represents church legal entities, including central, regional, municipal and local organizations. The Association negotiate with the government about the major issues of the functioning of church institutions, their support from the state budget, tax policy and their share of the education system, social and cultural politics. It has delegated authority in representing church institutions even during major foreign activities. One of the long-term projects of the KA is making church monuments accessible to people with reduced mobility and perception. This issue became also a cornerstone of the project partnership and the project activities were based on an exchange of know-how between the partners involved. At the beginning of the project implementation the KA experts visited the project site, The Church of St. James in Brno, in order to inspect and evaluate its accessibility for disabled. Besides, a workshop focused on the issue of culture heritage monuments accessibility along with preparatory works for a final seminar took place. The results of the evaluation at the beginning of the project and the follow-up workshop together with the ways how the Norwegian Church organizations increase accessibility of their monuments for disabled visitors were presented during a joint seminar “Religious monuments (almost) without barriers”. The joint seminar was the main partnership activity opened to various relevant stakeholders. According to the participant lists 54 representatives of the target audience (representatives of church organizations, the National Heritage Institute, the state administration and self-government) participated at the seminar. In the end of the project implementation the final inspection tour of the KA experts was organized. Both experts of the KA express their satisfaction as for the project outcomes and made use of the opportunity to discuss project promoter’s practices with reconstruction, rehabilitation and restoration of (church) culture heritage monuments. The project promoter’s experience in restoration of wooden culture heritage was of their interest in particular.