Slovakia boasts castles. Their restoration is not the state’s priority, volunteers say

The future of many castle ruins around Slovakia seems to be hanging in the air after a project supporting the saving of castle ruins ends in autumn.

The Zachráňme Hrady (Let’s Save Castles) initiative launched a petition several weeks ago. It runs until the end of August.

Volunteers point out that the Labour Ministry and the Culture Ministry ran a joint project that gave hundreds of unemployed people castle restoration jobs in the years 2012-2021. It was later replaced with another project focusing on employing Roma people. The project should end in October. Hence, volunteers are calling on the state to support castle restoration projects with more and regular funds, as well as launching another project that would hire the unemployed on projects concerning the restoration of castle ruins again.

“There is the least interest in sights,” the initiative says.

Plaveč Castle. (source: Mária Šimoňáková)

One project helped, the other not so much