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Description
The aim of this project is to save the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Grunta, which is an important Neo-Romanesque-Art Nouveau cultural monument and is one of the largest and most valuable rural buildings of this type. The artistically most interesting and valuable part of the whole church is its interior wall painting, which is unparalleled in the Czech countryside. The main essence of the problem is the state of emergency of this monument.
The salvation of the church consists of carrying out construction and restoration work, which will restore the church. First of all, subsoil and foundations will be stabilized in order to avoid the spread of static failures and possible subsequent collapse. The trusses of the nave, presbytery and towers will be repaired as well as the copper roofing on the towers. The damp masonry in the interior of the plinth area will be fixed, the external facade will be restored securing the masonry and cracks in the walls, vaults and floor will be repaired. Further activities will involve the restoration of stone elements in the interior, top crosses and stained-glass windows. Also, the wiring and interior lighting will be renovated.
We aim to open the cultural heritage of our country to wider public. We will carry out a bilateral activity together with a Norwegian partner in the form of cooperation on the opening of the church building for all and its new function in the contemporary society. With the help of partners of the Church Nursery School of St. Jakub in Kutná Hora and the Two-Year Catholic High School and Nursery School we will create educational programs aimed at involving children and young people as an important part of preserving cultural heritage and contributing to national and cultural identity. In partnership with the Museum Association “The Čáslavská Bee” we will create an information leaflet that will raise awareness of the cultural monument, its renewal and support from the EEA funds.
Summary of project results
As part of the project, the subsoil and foundations of the church were stabilized with jet grouting. The church was thus statically secured and, following this, cracks in the masonry and vaults were repaired. The church was thus saved, because its state of disrepair, which would have led to its establishment, was removed. Further destruction of the church''s unique art nouveau painting, which was largely restored as part of the project, was also stopped.
The main activity of the project was its static securing of the church by means of jet grouting, rehabilitation of the masonry and vaults, and subsequently the renewal of the art nouveau painting
throughout. In addition to these main activities, we then implemented a number of accompanying activities, which aimed to make the church accessible and make it known to the public. A business strategy was developed and implemented, we organized a total of 23 events for the public (religious services, educational programs for children, special tours of the church). 2 new job positions were also created - operations administrator and guide. The church was opened to the public during regular opening hours. Much attention was also focused on publicity for visitors. A church logo manual was created, a website was created, an educational panel was installed and leaflets were created. There were also 3 publicity events with the participation of the Norwegian partner. The main output of the project is a statically stabilized and repaired church with a restored unique art nouveau painting. This reconstruction made it possible to make the church fully accessible to the
public.
The aim of the programme is to strengthen social and economic development through cultural cooperation, entrepreneurship in the field of culture and cultural heritage management. The church is extremely impressive and is one of the largest churches in the Czech countryside. Its historic restoration and making it accessible to the public has contributed to the development of tourism, which can further stimulate the economic development of region Kutná Hora.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner carried out 3 inspection trips within the project.The first trip took place at the beginning of the project implementation, when the partner provided us with experience in implementing similar projects and also participated in the project opening ceremony.As part of the second inspection trip, a professional seminar on the topic "Churches Open to All" was organized.At the seminar, the Norwegian partner presented the possibilities of presenting sacral monuments to the general publicby connecting these monuments with modern art and further presented other optionsfor making sacral monuments more attractive to the public and all groups of the population so that no one feelsexcluded.As part of the third visit, the partner participated in the church opening ceremony and furtherpossibilities of further cooperation on the topics that were the subject of the seminar were discussed.