Roman Catholic Parish by the Church of St. James in Brno

svatyjakubbrno.wz.cz

KA Association for Employers in the Church of Norway, Dept. for Church Buildings and Heritage (KA)

Benedictine Archabbey of St. Adalbert and St. Margaret

Municipality of Horní Maršov

Roman Catholic Parish - archdeanery of Kutná Hora

The Church of St. James in Brno is a national cultural heritage and one of the most significant late Gothic art-historical buildings in Morava. It is a typical municipal atrial Gothic church of reduced cathedral type. The underground of the church houses the second largest ossuary in Europe (after Paris) holding approximately 50 000 human skeletons. This was discovered during an archaeological survey in 2001. The aim of the project is to renovate the entire interior of the church, which is in disastrous condition today, restoration of movable components and preservation of the church as a place of extraordinary cultural and spiritual significance. The project will include restoration of movable components, stone and stucco parts of the vault, window lobes, painted gudgeons and heraldry of the vault and, further, repairs of trusses and preparation of this space together with the tower for access by the public, repairs of paving, electrical installation, modification of wooden and stone staircases, painting of the interior, static stabilization of the southwest corner and defects in the sacristy masonry, overhaul of windows and doors, local repairs of roofing, etc. Movable interior components will all be renovated except for the baroque benches (renovated under the Programme for renovation of movable cultural heritage Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic) and organ (will be a separate project in the future). The renovation concept is conceived according to the materials – wood, polychrome, artificial marble, stone, etc. Each material has specified the basic condition characteristics and method of renovation. The primary goal of the works after making them accessible from e.g. scaffolding, will be to perform detailed surveys which will closely specific the technological procedures and significantly affect the final appearance of the respective components (e.g. scope of secondary over-painting). The actual course of renovation will also serve educational and research purposes (participation of students of history of arts from the Philosophical Faculty of the Mendel University in Brno). The project also has a significant social aspect – accessing for handicapped as part of collaboration with the Norwegian partner KA and other partners in the Czech Republic. Besides the actual renovation and restoration of the interior the project also includes a museum exhibit in the tower and trusses, which will, together with the recently opened crypt, create a tour course in the church. The exhibition concept presumes the application of modern multimedia presentation technologies in combination with exhibition of original artefacts in a secure and suitable environment.

approximately 1 095 057 EUR