IN 2007, the baroque calvary in Banská Štiavnica was put on a list of the 100 most endangered monuments in the world. After five years of hard work and the investment of over a million euros, it is gradually regaining its former beauty. On May 25 the completely reconstructed Lower Church was opened, marking the approximate half-way point in the reconstruction project.
“Every square centimetre of the church underwent some kind of processing. It was necessary to bare the frescoes, retouch and fix them,” said Martin Macharik, as quoted by the TASR newswire, when listing some of the works necessary when restoring the church. Macharik is chairman of the Kalvársky Fond, whose main task is to take care of the calvary.
The calvary, which dates from the middle of the 18th century, consists of 25 components – including three churches and 17 chapels depicting key moments from the life of Jesus – which all originally contained rich decorations including frescoes, wooden and stone reliefs, and sculptures.
The project to restore the calvary carries an estimated cost of €5 million, and so far €1.5 million has been spent, TASR wrote. The calvary is being restored with the help of the VÚB Foundation, which promised back in 2008 to provide a total of €700,000 for its restoration over the following 10 years. Later, the project attracted other sponsors too, like regional electricity distributor Stredoslovenská Energetika (SSE). Thanks to SSE the calvary is now getting new illumination.
