In Plzeň, a three-year hundred-million reconstruction of the cathedral has been completed

Plzeň – The interior of St. Bartolomew's Cathedral in the square in Plzeň now gives a significantly lighter, brighter, and more radiant impression after a three-year reconstruction costing more than 100 million crowns, which is reopening to the public. The landmark of Plzeň's center underwent a major reconstruction more than 100 years ago. Dozens of builders and restorers have been working in the interiors, cleaning the columns, vaults, walls, and cornices that were covered with layers of dirt and soot that settled in industrial Plzeň for a century. The cathedral also received new lighting, a chair for the bishop, restored heated benches, and the unique attic was made accessible, architect Jan Soukup told reporters today. The celebrations associated with the opening of the cathedral have been planned by the bishopric until Sunday.

"Absolutely everything inside has been reconstructed; there isn't a square meter that hasn't been touched. It started with cleaning the walls and columns, and scaffolding was gradually erected first in the chapels, then in the southern and northern aisles, in the presbytery, and finally in the central nave," Soukup described. The cleaning process was not simple - the best way to restore the original light shade of about 2,500 square meters of walls, ceilings, and columns was through manual removal of dirt using brushes, paintbrushes, and dustpans. Several stained glass windows from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries on the southern wall of the cathedral also needed repair, likely damaged by New Year's fireworks and firecrackers, according to Soukup.

All the paintings, images, sculptures, and altars were restored - about a hundred works of art traveled to dozens of restoration studios in the surrounding regions, while others were restored on-site. Everything was covered with a layer of greasy dirt, likely originating from the smoke of Škodovka operations from the last century. High up on the ceiling in the front of the cathedral, the restorers left one stone in its original uncleaned state for comparison of the difference.

"I think it worked out well. Everything has been lifted, and the individual pieces of furnishings do not overpower each other; they have all been harmoniously restored and revived. They seem to have detached from the walls. When everything was covered with that Škodovka blackness, it was as if they were part of those walls; now they have resonated and emerged," the architect described. He is particularly pleased with how the Renaissance epitaph from 1612 "shone through" after cleaning. "It is the only piece that remained here after the interior was essentially 'cleaned' puristically around 1870. If the epitaph had not been saved then, one piece of our history would have disappeared," thinks Soukup. Before the reconstruction, some paintings were so dark that it was nearly impossible to discern what they depicted.

New features of the furnishings include a new confessional, lighting with several pre-programmed variations for example for tourist tours, regular masses, night services, or for festive masses with the bishop. There is also a new modern chair - the bishop's cathedra, which has been missing from the temple since 1993 when it became a cathedral following the establishment of the diocese.

According to Iva Fictumová from the bishopric, the budget for the repair was 103 million crowns, with 95 percent coming from EU contributions. During the reconstruction, some unexpected issues arose, such as damaged vaults that needed to be fixed. Nevertheless, the additional work did not exceed two percent of the costs, Fictumová said. The repairs were also funded by Plzeň, the Plzeň Region, and the Pilsner Urquell Brewery.

The cathedral began construction around 1340, which, according to Soukup, was quite unconventional for the medieval period to be situated in the main square, considered a sinful place because people shouted, lied, cheated, and stole there. In the 15th century, the construction development ended, and the interior changed. The temple underwent significant repairs from 1879 to 1883 after the gable of the nave collapsed, damaging the vaults. The last major reconstruction lasted from 1914 to 1919. The oldest part of the church is the presbytery, and the most valuable piece of art is the Plzeň Madonna now located on the altar from 1883. The unique sandstone statue known as the beautiful Madonna was created in the workshop of St. Vitus Cathedral's Peter Parler in the first half of the 1380s.