A new multifunctional house of Cyril and Methodius was opened in Velehrad

Velehrad (Uherskohradišťsko) - A new Velehrad House of St. Cyril and Methodius was opened yesterday at the Moravian pilgrimage site of Velehrad, created by reconstructing former agricultural buildings, a granary, and a stable of the monastery. The event is part of the project Velehrad - a center for cultural dialogue between Western and Eastern Europe, which also includes repairs to the basilica and adjustments to outdoor spaces. The total costs are approximately 346 million crowns, with about 294 million CZK coming from European funds.
      The former stable is the oldest of the agricultural buildings, built already before the middle of the 16th century. The granary and the ground floor building between it and the stable, which housed a shop and restaurant, are only slightly younger. The renovation costs of the buildings reached 98.5 million crowns. The reconstruction began last year. The buildings will now serve as a regional center for education, culture, knowledge, and ecclesiastical tourism.
      The multifunctional center also offers newly established refreshments with a cafe, a connected bookstore, and sanitary facilities. The former stable will also house a museum of the Bible and part of the future permanent exhibition "Velehrad at the Crossroads of European History," the continuation of which will be located in the basement of the convent and the basilica. The house's full services will be available in 2013, when all planned exhibitions will be completed.
      However, pilgrims and tourists can already visit the refreshments with a cafe, the bookstore, and the information center this season. The exhibition halls also offer visitors to Velehrad the opportunity to become acquainted with new archaeological finds and the process of restoring the former agricultural buildings and the pilgrimage site. Pilgrims can also newly utilize the sanitary facilities, which were built on the outskirts of the area for nine million crowns.
      "When pilgrims arrive at Velehrad, they find the basilica, often just walk through it, and are gone in a moment. By building the center, we are creating a background and conditions to somehow keep them here," said Petr Hudec, coordinator of cultural activities at Velehrad, to ČTK.
      The project also includes restoration work in the main nave of the basilica, which will cost 25 million CZK. Currently, about 60 percent is complete. Work is also underway on restoring the areas of the pilgrimage site around the basilica, where costs are around 95 million crowns. "It should be completed by the end of the year. For this year's Days of Good Will, the courtyard will be covered with gravel and sand, the penultimate layer that will be laid before the paving," said the project coordinator Věra Homoláčová.
      The project also involves the repair of the church organs of the basilica and the chapel of the Epiphany known as Cyrilka, the facade of the basilica, and the establishment of the educational exhibition "Velehrad at the Crossroads of European History." The entire project is set to be completed by September 30, 2013.
      The demanding renovation of the Velehrad Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and Saints Cyril and Methodius, which was included among national cultural monuments in 2008, began by the parish in 2005. The first significant changes were made to both sixty-meter towers on the main nave of the basilica, which had waited for restoration for 105 years. The roofs were also repaired, the facilities on the first above-ground floor, including sanitation, were renovated, and the rectory building was also put into operation. According to Homoláčová, these repairs cost around 40 million crowns.