Friday, October 12, 2018, will be written in Banská Štiavnica’s Calvary history in capital letters. On this day, with the participation of a number of important guests, the general partner of the VUB Foundation, other sponsors and the public, the ceremony ended the main stage of Calvary restoration, which has been running since 2008.
We can not recall all the works and details we have done in Calvary during recent 11 years, but we think the restored Upper Church speaks for itself. Its restoration has started in recent years. The entrance portal, fresco decoration, statues of Christ and crucified lotres, a wooden altar with Golgotha, tiles, lattices, sacristy and, of course, a façade with restored metal medallions and the roofs of both towers were renewed. Over the past few months, dozens of laborers and restorers have been working here. In spite of the scaffold that surrounded it since spring 2018, we have been installing the cross and the so called „the sun“ on the towers with help of mountain climber. Today, after more than 3 years, the Upper church is already shown in full of beauty.
Since the restoration of the Lower Church has passed for a few years, all chapels including the Ecce Homo chapel have been restored (except for the chapel of the „Holy grave“, which will continue in the years to come), pavements, railings and mouvers along the access roads were repaired, technical infrastructure , the whole area was electrified, the greenery was changed, we started planting the new alley, we restored the Virgin Mary’s ensembles and built a natural amphitheater, the sculptural decoration gradually is gradually being restored, we started with the renovation of the Middle Church etc.
On Friday 12 October, the main phase of the recovery was officially completed. On this occasion, together with the VUB Foundation, we organized a festive event. We started with the commented walk to the Upper Church. On the top, we were welcomed by songs performed by local choir „Štiavničan“. Followed by guests‘ interviews. Among them were Ignacio Jacqotot and Alexander Resch of the VUB Foundation; Mr Pablo F. Longoria, Deputy World Monuments Fund; Mrs. Magda Vašáryová, adopter of one of the chapels; Mr. Pavel Gregor, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, STU in Bratislava; Mr. Juraj Čabák for Banská Štiavnica and representatives of The Calvary Fund – Martin Macharik with Katarína Vošková. There were also many other donors, a large audience and media representatives present. The event at the Upper Church was finished by the priest’s speech and prayer. Then we moved to city cultural center for the evening program.
The two-hour evening program attracted more than 300 guests. It is only a pity that the capacity of the hall was limited. We do not know whether it was the premiere of a new documentary film about Calvary, the interviews of other guests (including Jan Lunter for the BBSK, Mr. Dušan Šándor from the EU Commission for Research and Innovation, or Mr. Zuzana Ondrejková from the Ministry of Culture), auction of beautiful Calvary photos or concert of famous Slovak singer Jana Kirschner, but we think that Calvary has celebrated the completion of the main stage of work really dignified.
Shortly after we were presenting the restored Calvary to the public, we learned another important message. We have received an important award awarded by the Ministry of the Environment – the prize of the SR for the country of 2018! In 2019, the Calvary Fund will therefore represent Calvary as a representative from the Slovak Republic among other winning projects among EU countries. We are very excited about it.
On this occasion, we want to thank everyone who has helped us over the past 11 years. We can not remember all the names, but first of all we thank the Lord God for blessing our efforts and this precious place, we also thank all the donors without whom the renewal was not possible; dozens of restorers and workers; hundreds of volunteers; employees of the State monument office; architects; designers, present and past priest of the Banská Štiavnica parish and all who help us with the restoration.
The main phase of the restoration is over, but we go further. In front of us there is still the reconstruction of the Middle Church with its beautiful frescoes, the wooden staircase and the stone altar, the restoration of the Holy grave and the gradual replenishment of the sculptural decoration into individual objects. We believe that with every new fresco, sculpture or other artistic details, Calvary’s message in Banská Štiavnica, for which it was built, is more and more prominent and will increasingly appeal to the heart of today’s man.
