Church reconstruction reveals 1920s mementoes

WORKERS renovating the Church of St Trinity in Raslavice, a municipality in eastern Slovakia’s Bardejov district, recently made a surprising discovery. While replacing the church’s roof, they found a metal tube that contained a letter written in 1926 and 15 antique coins.

The document discovered in a church tower in Raslavice during its reconstruction.The document discovered in a church tower in Raslavice during its reconstruction. (Source: TASR)

WORKERS renovating the Church of St Trinity in Raslavice, a municipality in eastern Slovakia’s Bardejov district, recently made a surprising discovery. While replacing the church’s roof, they found a metal tube that contained a letter written in 1926 and 15 antique coins.

“The letter was written while the church’s tower was under reconstruction,” said Peter Paľa, a local official, the TASR newswire reported. “It states such things as who led the church’s congregation at the time, who was mayor and who took part in the reconstruction.”

Paľa also said that the letter recorded reconstruction on the church’s roof in 1926 as having cost 8,000 Slovak crowns. He compared that to the €8,000 cost of similar reconstruction being done on the church today.

Most of the coins also dated back to the 1920s, Paľa said, but some had been minted in the 19th century. A few had Empress Maria Theresa on them, meaning they had been produced in the late 18th century. “Once the construction is complete, we plan to put the message back in the tube and leave it for future generations,” Paľa said.

Historians say a church has been located on the same spot in Raslavice since the second half of the 13th century. Originally a Catholic church, it became Protestant once Evangelicals began attending in the 16th and 17th centuries. It reverted to being a Catholic church in the first half of the 18th century, and remained so until a new Catholic church was built in the 1990s.


Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


SkryťClose ad