The Slanting Church in Karviná is once again shining in historical colors, the renovation cost seven million CZK

Karviná - The restoration of the roof and facade of the Church of St. Peter of Alcantara in Karviná-Doly, known as the Leaning Church, is complete. The work cost seven million crowns, of which 5.9 million crowns was covered by a grant from the European program Just Transformation. The rest was paid by the parish of Karviná-Doly, primarily from the proceeds of entrance fees for guided tours. The completion of the work was reported to ČTK by the spokesperson of the Ostrava-Opava Diocese, Ondřej Elbel. The monument is now adorned with original historic colors, namely gray, white, and red. The church is one of the most sought-after churches in the Moravian-Silesian region.

At the beginning of April, the construction company removed the original Eternit roofing from the 1990s from the church, which had exceeded its lifespan. It was replaced with baked roof tiles of the beaver-tail type. "The church has thus regained its historical color combination of gray-white facade and red roof, documented by archival photographs and postcards," he explained.

The construction work also included the restoration of the facade, which has been long-term damaged due to the leaning of the building caused by subsidence, and the repair of adjacent tombs. "In addition to the new roofing, we also restored the church's facade, which suffers due to the leaning," said Václav Kotásek, the head of the construction department of the Ostrava-Opava Diocese.

The church remained accessible throughout the repairs and regular services continued there. According to the Old Karviná Association, the church was visited by 16,200 people last year, making it one of the most visited churches included in the Open Churches project. During the summer holidays, guided tours are held every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and the season will last until the end of October.

The Baroque Church of St. Peter of Alcantara was built in 1736 on the site of an earlier wooden church of St. Martin, documented as early as 1447. The Leaning Church is one of the last preserved witnesses of the original Karviná, which vanished due to coal mining. Due to subsidence, the structure has significantly deviated from the vertical axis, and in the past, it was necessary to remove an extension of the tower. In the 1990s, the church underwent extensive static reinforcement, during which it was strengthened with a reinforced concrete ring. In recent years, its popularity has been significantly increased by the novel trilogy "Leaning Church" by the writer Karin Lednická.