The rescue of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre in Liberec will begin later this year

Liberec - The rescue of the Baroque Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher in the upper center of Liberec, which is in a catastrophic condition, will begin this year before winter. It might not survive any longer. The work will be paid for by the city council, which has acquired one of the significant monuments in the city from the Roman Catholic parish free of charge for management for 50 years. "The loan will enable the city to invest public funds," said Deputy Mayor Ivan Langr (Mayors for the Liberec Region - SLK) to reporters.

The late Baroque Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher was built in Liberec in 1772 as a copy of the Holy Sepulcher in Görlitz. It was commissioned by the Liberec cloth merchant and trader Andreas Joseph Wondrak according to the design of Johann Joseph Kunze. It is currently located in the garden of the Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross, where it was moved in the 19th century. Originally, it stood on the western side of the cemetery near the nearby archdeacon's church of St. Anthony.

"The monument has a significantly cross-border impact, it is part of the cross-border project Via Sacra," the deputy stated. The Via Sacra tourist trail has been leading through the Three Borders for more than ten years. It connects exceptional sacred monuments in Upper Lusatia, Northern Bohemia, and Lower Silesia. Due to its poor condition, however, visitors can currently only view the chapel from outside in the garden of the church. It suffered quite a bit last winter, with part of the cornice on the back side even collapsing.

As part of the rescue work this year, the restorer will remove the damaged cornice and secure the small tower statically. "There will also be some cladding of the building, to help it endure the upcoming climatic months, which are always very challenging in Liberec and can further affect destruction," Langr stated.

The rescue work, costing nearly half a million crowns, is overseen by restorer Radomil Šolc. This year, at the order of the city, he also carried out repairs on the Marian column in the Baroque garden by the church, which is considered the most significant figurative monument in the territory of Liberec. The restoration of the chapel will continue next year, with costs estimated by the city at 1.5 million crowns. The deputy expects that the chapel may be repaired by next autumn.