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Description
The aim of the project is the renovation of the iconic Beckov Castle – namely its West Palace, one of the most visited cultural tourism destination in western Slovakia. The West Palace after its restoration shall serve various purposes: leisure and educational purposes, social and cultural events, exhibitions including the one showing the history of Beckov Castle. The Norwegian project partner - The Norwegian University College for Agriculture and Rural Development shall help the applicant to involve people from local communities as well as transfer of knowledge and experience in the area. All target groups - visitors of the Beckov Castle, including participants of social events, especially families with children, seniors and disabled persons, shall benefit from the project.
Summary of project results
The project DRAGON addressed critical issues such as severe structural deterioration of Beckov Castle and aimed at the preservation of the castle''s historical integrity through detailed architectural-historical research. To enhance visitor´s engagement, the project introduced a permanent exhibition with interactive features like "talking pictures" and peephole views of the medieval kitchen, bath, and toilet. Additionally, the initiative expanded usable spaces by roofing six rooms for exhibitions and cultural events and creating new viewing areas, including a terrace and a footbridge. These efforts not only stabilized the structure but also enriched its historical narrative and extended its functionality for various cultural and social activities, ensuring a broader range of services and greater visitor comfort. Overall, the project aimed to transform challenges into opportunities by revitalizing a historical monument, engaging the community, stimulating economic growth, and promoting local culture and heritage.
Thanks to the EEA and Norway grants support, it was possible to restore some parts of the Beckov castle. In 2020, the large part of the Gothic vaulting of the bay window on the second above-ground floor in Western Palace collapsed.Therefore, the parts of Western Palace which have been in a state of emergency were reconstructed from their further destruction. The construction work of the project took place from April 2022 to September 2023. The subsequent part of the project involved the cultural and social activities. For example, the establishing of a part of the permanent exhibition in the covered premises of the Western Palace. The scenes with the production in unique "talking pictures" in the Knight''s hall, as well as the opportunity to investigate the medieval kitchen, the castle master''s bath will certainly be attractive to the visitor.
The interesting outputs of the project also included the work of individual researchers. The architectural-historical research within the framework of the analysis of the wooden parts on the western wall of the palace, moved the timeline of the creation of the first stone buildings in the castle to the years 1161-1181. This findings are significant and it ranks Beckov Castle among the oldest stone castles in today''s Slovakia. The benefit of the new permanent exposition not only for visitors will certainly be the creation of a 1:1 copy of the epitaph of Stibora Jr.
The current state of the western part of Beckov Castle is stabilized. New view points were created for the visitor (the terrace of the western palace, the area of the green roof above the palace as well as the footbridge in the western bastion), roofed closed areas (6 rooms), which will provide space not only for the purpose of creating a permanent exhibition of the castle, but also for the implementation of various kinds cultural events (concerts, lectures) and also for commercial use (rentals, wedding ceremonies, corporate events). Thus, Beckov Castle enters a new era of its life, which, according to the methodology of the monument office, preserves the castle in a ruinous character, but at the same time, thanks to the new premises, it allows the establishment to extend its operating hours and offer visitors greater comfort and a wider range of services than was the case until now.
Summary of bilateral results
The partner from Norway, Høgskulen for Grøn Utvikling has been a great support within Dragon project. This partnership had lots of good results and outcomes. The partnership gave this project a higher level of credibility and deepness, the partner adviced how to work with the local community, it helped the promoter to think differently about its assets, how it can capitalize on these assets and get the community more involved in the project results. The promoter together with the partner organized several cultural, community and professional events. The bilateral seminar on 18 October 2022 was devoted to the use and involvement of communities in the development of tourism and culture itself, and it was very inspiring in many levels. It is estimated that beyond the project the partnership will continue to further communicate with the partner and to present the local community network has been improved and the promoter´s assets is used the adviced way.