THE TORTURE chamber housed in the Museum of Janko Kráľ in Liptovský Mikuláš is infested with mould and the museum will first need to dry the rooms and then plan to reconstruct the entire exhibition, leaving the attraction closed to the public until a mid August weekend dedicated to Juraj Jánošík, Slovakia’s national bandit hero.
Ružena Antolová, the museum’s historian, told the SITA newswire that numerous technical flaws had complicated the normal operation of the torture chamber and cold air in the winter caused the doors to become wet and not operational.
“The rooms in which national hero Jánošík was tortured will undergo a complete reconstruction and then re-installation of the exposition,” Antolová said. “As the rooms are wet, mould would keep destroying the exhibits. The torture chamber will first be dried and then we also plan to exhibit the historical carriage here which has been in the mansion Vranoo in Palúdzka in the past. The exposition itself will be renewed, as well, and it will get new technology – a multimedia panel which will show visitors documents from the trail with Juro Jánošík,” the historian added.
August 16-18 will be organised as Jánošík’s weekend and this year marks the 300th anniversary of his death by execution and 325th anniversary of his birth. Some exhibits from the now-closed torture chamber are on display as part of the exhibition called Päťdesiat rokov jánošíkovských tradícií (Fifty Years of Jánošík Traditions) located in the main exhibition hall of the Liptovský Mikuláš museum from June 21 till December 12. Renovations to the torture chamber will be financed within the micro-project called Jánošík – 300 rokov legendy (Jánošík – 300 Years of a Legend) financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the programme of cross-border cooperation between Poland and Slovakia, 2007-2013.
