The Olomouc Column from the UNESCO list has undergone a thorough cleaning

Olomouc - Several kilograms of pigeon droppings were removed by experts during the general maintenance of the Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc in recent days. The thirty-five meter tall baroque monument, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, underwent a thorough cleaning after five years. The work cost the Olomouc city hall 50,000 crowns.
    “It is very demanding. The monument must be scrubbed of droppings, cleaned with water, and the entire process has to be repeated several times. There is definitely much more droppings after five years than we expected. It’s estimated that it is definitely several kilograms,” said restorer Ladislav Werkmann to ČTK today.
    Experts had a platform lift brought to the center, which allowed them to clean the column to a height of about twenty meters. “Pigeon droppings mainly damage the monument aesthetically. Otherwise, it is saturated with salt, which, of course, we cannot remove from that depth during restoration. It migrates to the surface and damages the fillings and patinas,” Werkmann added, mentioning that this is usual for such old monuments.
    According to experts, it will be necessary to tackle the cleaning of the Holy Trinity Column again in five years. They recommend that this time scaffolding should be erected around the monument, which would allow for even more thorough cleaning. One of the reasons is that the unique baroque column is in the spotlight and must therefore be maintained much more carefully than other monuments.
    The column has returned to the hands of experts after five years. In 2001, restorers completed a demanding reconstruction worth 17 million crowns. The column has not undergone such repairs for a full 100 years. It was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage site list in November 2000 as the tenth Czech site. The column dates back to 1716 and is the work of Václav Render and his successors. The sculptural decorations were contributed by Filip Sattler and Ondřej Zahner.