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Description
Initially a Gothic fortress, the Pětipsy château in the Ústí nad Labem region was a local center of economic administration and a landscape dominant. As the once-grandeur swiftly started to decay in the latter half of the 20th century, the Via Levamente association acquired its ruin in 2012 and readily launched its rescue. The object is shortlisted as one of the most endangered local heritage sites.
The promoter carries out relief works, but their prolongation may rapidly decrease the cultural and historical value of the complex and keep it unavailable for the public. The project thus aims at revitalizing the château, esp. via completing the Gothic section of its northern wing and reconstructing the entire western and part of the southern wings, statics securing and roofing and restoring eroded vaults, plus other inevitable repairs. The complex will be barrier-free. Another aim is to breathe new life in it and allow for its meaningful and fully-fledged use by the public. The promoter has thus carefully analyzed the needs of the region and the local community, which resulted in the following planned activities: on-line presentation/virtual tour of the complex, installing a permanent educational exhibition“The Samo’s Empire”, providing background for a community center focused on social inclusion, and organizing various educational/cultural events.
Thanks to the cooperation with the Norwegian partner, extensive photo and video documentation will be created to introduce the château to new visitors. The château will offer a non-stop on-line virtual tour and open door to wide public during the tourist season. The expected increase in the number of visitors and in the income generated by the revitalized monument and the planned events will thus support Czech cultural heritage and boost the potential and the development of the region.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to save the castle from devastation, its reconstruction, revitalization and the creation of conditions for the sustainable management of the historic building. By making the castle accessible, with the possibility of its use for cultural and educational events, the project restored the lively function of the monument area and contributed to its meaningful and full use by the public. The main problem was providing of funds for co-financing.
In addition to the completed rescue and reconstruction works, an important part of the project was the presentation of the castle as a Czech cultural and historical heritage. The public was continuously informed about the revitalization of the castle through the websites of the Project Promoter and the project partners, social networks, articles and reports. Contact with the public was important to stimulate interest in order to contribute to ensuring the sustainable economic operation of the castle. The project contributed to increasing the attractiveness of the region through the creation of a permanent educational interactive exposition of the Sami Empire. Thanks to the digitization of the restored monument and its online presentation on web applications, the public is allowed a virtual tour. One of the important new functions of the object, which the realization made possible, is the creation of a place for community meetings, which contributes to the inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion.
The main output and purpose of the project is a restored and accessible monument, as a strengthening of cultural heritage management (496 visitors). Other outputs: created and implemented Business Strategy; the innovative use of the monument took place through 2 tools, an educational exhibition of the Sami Empire and digitalization of the monument/virtual access; supported events-3 workshops (41 children). New community place-cooperation with a Czech partner, also used by minorities, incl. Roma.
Summary of bilateral results
Ongoing publicity of the project by the Norwegian partner (Arne Valen, AVALEN AS) and the resulting time-lapse digital film produced as part of the bilateral activity contributed to promoting awareness and to public interest. Thanks to the Norwegian partner, the results can be presented also outside the Czech Republic (planned exhibition in Norway during the sustainability period).During the implementation, 5 working stays of the Norwegian partner in Pětipsi took place, which contributed to better understanding of the way of professional work and presentation in the management of cultural, historical objects. The time-lapse documentary can be viewed at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H5YONgpwYzBCf_qH4BFcikrY8Q2VD8jZ/view?usp=sharing