The list of monuments in Vysočina has grown to include the Pacov synagogue

Jihlava - This year, one cultural monument has been added in the Vysočina region, and other monuments have expanded. This was stated today in a press release by Ilona Ampapová from the Telč office of the National Heritage Institute. The newly protected cultural monument is the synagogue in Pacov, and the garden of the Jesuit gymnasium in Telč has also come under heritage protection, as well as the ossuary and mortuary in Stonařov, or some buildings at the pilgrimage site in Křemešník.

The synagogue in Pacov is owned by the Tikkun association. They have commissioned a survey of the building and are preparing its renovation. The synagogue, located near the town center, is intended to serve the public for cultural and social events. It was built in the second half of the 19th century on older foundations of a classicist synagogue that was damaged by fire.

The author of the project for the older classicist structure is said to be the Pacov builder and carpenter master Tomáš Polívka, while the author of the neo-Romanesque reconstruction is unknown, Ampapová stated. It served the Jewish community until the autumn of 1941. Later, it was used as a warehouse, workshop, or packing facility. Tikkun has been caring for the synagogue since 2017.

In Telč in the Jihlava region, where the Jesuit gymnasium is one of the monuments, the heritage protection has now also extended to the garden of the gymnasium. "The garden with its stone access staircase and high enclosing wall with a gate is an interesting example and evidence of the development of public space, school facilities, and a natural fire barrier," said the director of the NPÚ Telč, Pavel Macků.

Heritage protection was also granted to the ossuary and mortuary at the Church of St. Wenceslas in Stonařov in the Jihlava region. The former mortuary was built in the Empire style, while the ossuary is Renaissance. Especially on the ground floor level, it has been preserved in its authentic form. "In terms of construction and architectural design, it constitutes a significant group of sacred and ecclesiastical buildings that has no parallel in the wider region," Macků stated.

At the pilgrimage site in Křemešník in the Pelhřimov region, heritage protection was granted to the former school, rectory, and lodge. They stand close to the Church of the Holy Trinity.

The area is in accordance with the rules of Baroque architecture, stated Ampapová. The newly declared buildings were built no later than the first half of the 19th century, as evidenced by the drawing from the stable cadastre from 1829.

In addition to 2,985 immovable cultural monuments, including 16 national cultural monuments, the Vysočina region has three urban and three village heritage reserves, 22 urban and five village heritage zones, and one landscape heritage zone. Three towns from Vysočina - Třebíč, Telč, and Žďár nad Sázavou - have their monuments on the UNESCO list.