Prague will cover the burned church, preparing for reconstruction

Prague – The Prague City Hall will cover the remnants of the Orthodox Church of St. Michael from the 17th century with a temporary structure, which was largely destroyed by fire last year. The spokesperson for the City Hall, Vít Hofman, stated today that construction will start on Tuesday and will serve for two years, until the monument is renovated. According to representatives of the City Hall, a large part of the church can be repaired, and the destroyed wooden elements will be replaced with replicas. The wooden church in the Kinský Garden largely burned down on October 28 this year.

The church is owned by the capital city, and specialists from the National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) participated in the survey of the damaged structure. According to Prague councilor Hana Třeštíková (Prague for Themselves), the monument is in better condition than originally thought. "There is not just a pile of ashes and charred beams on site - a large part of the structure survived the fire. We will now focus on preparing the renovation," she stated.

According to the survey, the trio of towers of the church was hit hardest, and the building also lost a large part of its roof. The fire mainly affected the exteriors of the building, with only some areas burning inside. Some parts of the wooden structure were not affected by the fire at all, according to the press release.

Prague's property councilor Jan Chabr (TOP 09) added that the temporary structure protecting the church from the elements will cost approximately two million crowns. "The construction will take about a week, and it is expected that it will stand on site for about two years," he said.

The City Hall is now preparing a contract for the renovation project, which should be completed within two to three years. The city has also established a public fundraising campaign for the repair of the monument, which, according to Třeštíková, has so far collected nearly 1.5 million crowns.

The wooden church stood in the Kinský Garden since 1929, when it was dismantled and transported to Prague from the village of Velké Loučky near Mukachevo in what was then Subcarpathian Rus, now in Ukraine. It was a gift from the Rusyns to their then capital city, Prague, as their typical folk construction. The church was part of the collections of the Ethnography Department of the National Museum in Prague.

Similar fires have occurred before; in August 2017, a historical wooden church from the 16th century burned down in Gutech in the Frýdek-Místek region, and in April 2002, flames destroyed the wooden Church of St. Catherine in Ostrava-Hrabová from the same period. In March 2014, the wooden Libušín chalet in Pustevny in the Beskids, designed by Dušan Jurkovič at the end of the 19th century, also burned down.