In the vanished Zahrádka, people can contribute to the repair of the church windows

Horní Paseka - In the abandoned village of Zahrádka, people can help restore the stained glass windows of St. Vitus Church, which is the only preserved building. The other houses were demolished during the construction of the Švihov water reservoir on the Želivka River. The stained glass windows were commissioned by the priest Josef Toufar during his time in Zahrádka and were later damaged. This is indicated by the information from the association Friends of Zahrádka, which, along with heritage conservationists, is taking care of the church repairs.

“Part of the windows were broken by vandals in the 1980s and 1990s,” said Jana Kašparová, chairwoman of the association, today to ČTK. Later, unbreakable glass was placed outside the stained glass to prevent further damage and to stop water from leaking into the church. “In this regard, it is secured. Now it’s about reconstructing the damaged windows,” she stated.

The costs for repairing six church windows will exceed 660,000 crowns. The same company that made these Art Nouveau style windows for Father Toufar in 1944 will restore the stained glass. It is the Prague artistic glass studio Jiřička - Coufal. At the end of the war, the church also received decorative windows thanks to donations from parishioners.

The association now offers donors the opportunity to "adopt" one of the four stained glass windows depicting saints. The restoration of each will cost 126,900 crowns. The association has already signed a contract for the repair of another window in the presbytery, but it does not have enough money for all the church windows.

Josef Toufar served in the Zahrádka parish from 1940 to 1948, after which he was transferred to nearby Číhošť. He died on February 25, 1950, after being tortured by members of the StB, who tried to force him to confess that he had staged a miraculous movement of the cross on the altar in the Číhošť church. A statue by Olbram Zoubek has been commemorating the priest in Zahrádka since this February.

The village of Zahrádka had to make way for the dam in the 1970s. The Friends of Zahrádka association has been operating since 2001. Its goal is to create a memorial for the entire flooded area in the church, which is now on the shore of the reservoir. It raises money for repairs through public collections and organizes several events at the church each year. On Saturday, a memorial gathering will take place there, starting with a mass at 14:00. A pre-Christmas concert will be held in December.