A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Kristina MARKUŠOVA: Restoration of the Saint Elizabeth Church in Kassa

In 1995, after long preparations, restoration commenced on the north tower. By that time the restoration was no longer proceeding under the auspices of the Institute for Protection of Historic Monuments, but of the church, the monuments authority and, latterly, the Monuments Inspectorate. (The result of this was a reduction in state support to the extent that it has now completely dried up, at least in the case of Kassa Cathedral.) The first object of restoration on the north tower was also the roof: the baroque cupola was added following the fire of 1775. It was clad with copper plate, to which originally rocaille-sheet ornaments were fixed with copper nails. The larger ornaments have survived, but many of the smaller ones have decayed. It is less the weather that has caused the damage than the tight-fistedness of the last century, when the new copper plates to cover holes caused by the weather were fixed to the roof with steel nails. The resulting chemical reaction caused holes in places where there had been none to start with. The plain copper cladding could no longer be „patched", and so the surviving relief ornaments were removed, cleaned and hammered out, and the replacement pieces were produced accordingly. The copper flashing was taken off the roof, the local damage on the baroque hardwood cupola structure repaired, and new copper flashing applied to the new battens. Since it was found during cleaning that the copper ornaments had originally been gilded, the gilding was restored after remounting. On the east facade of the tower, where the side-aisle's roof structure had been much higher before the last century's reconstruction than it was afterwards, the additions to the stone wall of one hundred years ago were made with brick, the brick wall was rendered, and the „grouting" was painted on to the rendering. Naturally it was cement rendering used here, too, and in time it fell off, taking some brick with it. These sections were restored, substituting with suitable stone where parts were missing. The entire tower surface was cleaned, and every trace of the last century's cement rendering was removed, revealing fragments of a medieval fresco. The figures in the painting were originally painted on the western facade of the tower, up to first-storey level, and were largely covered up by the entrance tower which was added later (the year 1462 is inscribed above this entrance). The interior of the north tower was also restored: The older (not medieval) beam floor was restored, a missing storey was also installed, and the rendering and stonewall surfaces in the areas in the lower part of the tower were treated. New electric cables were only put in where absolutely necessary for safe passage up the spiral staircase and operation of the new clock. Since some cracking was detected on the tower facade and inside, mostly above the window frames, a site-assembled steel reinforcing structure was mounted in the interior on three levels to reduce movement between the wall sections. On the ground floor, where a simple cross-ribbed vault was constructed above the single square-plan room, the stone and rendering surfaces were restored. Hidden behind the cupboards was a small wall niche with a medieval wrought-iron door: archive documents mention that the ground level of the north tower was used in the 18th century as a second vestry, and clearly had been from early times. The restoration of the tower was completed in 1998. In the meantime research, and subsequently restoration, began on the neighbouring St Michael's chapel. The cathedral repairs are therefore not proceeding in accordance with the original plan. Nevertheless, because of the endangered condition of the north entrance, work started to fix at least the crumbling parts in order to preserve them from destruction until they can be restored. According to the literature, the architect of the medieval St Elizabeth parish church strongly influenced similar building over a wide area. The effect of the Kassa school can be seen in many widespread details (entrance, double spiral staircase, vaulting, turret forms, etc.). Today's restorers hope that the present work on the cathedral will serve as a good example, and not a study of „what it didn'tBut that can clearly only be properly decided when the work is complete.