Letohrad continues with the renovation of the five-sided Baroque chapel

The city has so far received smaller grants from a program for the preservation of architectural heritage. Repairs have so far cost 13 million crowns. This year, the focus was on paving as well as plastering and painting in the ambits. Next year, the outdoor façade will be repaired, and restorers will begin restoring the paintings inside the chapel, which will take them more than a year.

"We are preparing a project for new staircases; a spiral staircase will connect the cellars and the ambits. On the southern side, the passages for water supply and drainage are completed, so there can be restrooms and cultural events can be held there," Hatka said.

Partial grants for creating a monument are insufficient. The city has unsuccessfully tried twice to obtain funds designated for cross-border cooperation with Poland. No further grants from the Ministry of Culture, which provides money for the preservation of protected buildings, have been tied to this. "It then poses the risk that we invest 15 million crowns or even more into the building, and once it is fully repaired, it will be locked, and there will be no significant effect from it. That would be the wrong way," said Hatka.

The chapel is currently accessible in the summer. The monument would operate year-round. In the ambits, it could showcase copies of Baroque statues, as well as a film documentary, and highlight the phenomenon of Baroque pilgrimages in the Czech lands. The town would like to build a seasonal café with multifunctional spaces and a small parking lot under the chapel. They still need to agree with the parish on the transfer of the monument to be able to draw grants.

The chapel dates back to the first half of the 18th century. The designer is not recorded in written sources. The ambits have a pentagonal floor plan, representing the five stars in the halo of Saint John of Nepomuk. The ambits are topped with onion-shaped towers with bells. Only a fragment of the rich ceiling paintings has been preserved. The Stations of the Cross in the ambits were painted by Dominik Umlauf in the second half of the 19th century.

"It's a miniature version of Santini's Green Mountain, a very interesting object. We are not currently presenting much there; there is no reason for large crowds to visit. But it is beautifully restored," said mayor Petr Fiala (Association for Letohradsko).