Kolín will start with the repairs of the Church of St. Bartholomew this year

Kolín - This year, Kolín will begin repairs on the Church of St. Bartholomew, including the adjacent area. The estimated cost of the reconstruction project is approximately 90 million crowns, and the Deputy Mayor of Kolín, Michael Kašpar (STAN), believes that the price will decrease in the public tender. The town hall is requesting a grant of 86 million crowns. Kašpar stated that the application has successfully passed the substantive evaluation and is awaiting a recommendation for funding. If everything goes according to plan, repairs will begin in the spring. The work will last for more than a year and a half.

During the construction, the city will also replace the pavement, public lighting, add furniture, and thoroughly renovate the buildings of the belfry, ossuary, and old school. "It is crucial for us that the project has been developed for the entire area around the church. Among other things, the old school will be restored, where we will place a replica of an 18th-century classroom," Kašpar said.

Kašpar could not determine the exact date when the repairs will begin. "It depends on the approval of the application and the tendering process. If the application is approved and we receive the funds during January, we would then like to go through the selection process and start in the spring. At this moment, it is therefore not possible to specify a closer date," Kašpar told ČTK.

As part of the reconstruction, a new access road to the church complex should be created, utilizing a spiral staircase from Political Prisoners Street, contrary to the original plan. This idea was initially not supported by preservationists, but the new city architect, David Mateásko, managed to change their opinion. "He convinced the National Heritage Institute that the connection of the church complex with the gap and especially the overcoming of the historical wall is not entirely illogical, as it originally seemed," Kašpar stated.

The Church of St. Bartholomew in Kolín is a significant Gothic sacred building. It was built in the second half of the 13th century in the forms of early Gothic architecture. From this construction phase, the three-nave structure with a pair of octagonal western towers has been preserved. In the 14th century, a completely new, high cathedral choir with a ring of chapels was built by Petr Parléř. At the beginning of the 16th century, a belfry was added. The church is listed in the register of national cultural monuments.