THE RECONSTRUCTION of the fire-damaged castle Krásna Hôrka, which is owned by the state Slovak National Museum, has cost more than €1.17 million as of the beginning of March 2014. The castle caught on fire back in March, 2012.
Two years later, the cost of the reconstruction cannot be calculated precisely, SNM’s spokesperson Silvia Turnerová informed the SITA newswire.
“By the time of fire, there were 4,229 items, including those in deposits, in the castle,” she said. “Out of that, 352 were damaged or destroyed – including three bells. Some of them cannot be saved and restored.”
The reconstruction is divided into three phases: while the first was expected to be finished by now, it is now slated for completion by May 2014. The second phase will finish by the end of this year, while the third phase is still in the preparation stage.
“The negotiations with the insurer have not been concluded yet,” Turnerová informed. “So far, the Generali insurance company transferred €2,000,000, of which the current costs have been covered.” SNM announced a public funding drive for Krásna Hôrka that will end on March 13. The money is to be used for restoring some of the damaged exhibits and the castle chapel, SITA wrote.
The medieval castle’s 14th-century roof burned down in the 2012 fire after vegetation on the underlying hill caught fire from a discarded cigarette butt. A year earlier, Krásna Hôrka had been reconstructed. The fire destroyed the entire roof, damaged parts of the walls and part of an exhibition opened in 2011 in the upper level of the castle.
(Source: SITA)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
